AN AUTHENTIC SUOR ANGELICA

 Vita Koreneva and Rachel Hippert

Perhaps the most accurate phrase to express our opinion of Regina Opera's production of Puccini's Suor Angelica would be "well worth the trip". Admittedly it is a long way from Manhattan but where else can a hard core opera lover go to see a production that makes sense by virtue of faithfulness to time and place. We are sick and tired of productions that are shoehorned into some narcissistic director's "concept"!

Suor Angelica is imbued with the values of late 19th - early 20th century Italy. Girls who got pregnant were considered a shame upon their families' reputation and were consigned to the convent as punishment for their sins. Nowadays in the United States, single women who want a child barely think twice about deliberately achieving the state of motherhood. The opera does not translate well. 

Here we have Director Helen Van Tine not only giving us the real McCoy but also appending an original moment that touched us deeply, even though we are of a pagan nature. We hesitate to tell you about it because we would like you, Dear Reader, to attend one of the several upcoming performances and experience the moment for yourself. It must be said that singers make the best directors and in a perfect world we would banish all the self-important directors and send them back to Europe or Hollywood or wherever they came from.

So now that you know how highly we regard Regina Opera, let us tell you some specifics. The opera has been cast with a rotating cast of talented young singers, all of whom threw themselves into their roles with enthusiastic intent. The cast we saw at the dress rehearsal included soprano Rachel Hippert as the eponymous Suor Angelica and mezzo-soprano Vita Koreneva as La Principessa. The latter was of particular interest because, by subtle gestures, she permitted us to see a more well rounded character than we have previously seen.

We have been primed by prior productions to hate this woman who has banished her niece to a convent and only visited her after years of neglect. But what Ms. Koroneva showed us was a woman who was obliged to hide her sorrow out of duty to her aristocratic family and society. As she leaves the convent with the legal papers she brought for Angelica's signature, you could see her ambivalence in her glance and posture. We felt sorry for the character who must ensure the successful marriage of her other niece. This evoked the same feelings in us as when Germont Père in Verdi's La Traviata is well portrayed so that we can experience his softer side.  Now that's artistry!

Ms. Hippert also demonstrated the anguish of her character in "Senza Mamma" --the conflict between wanting to join her son in heaven and the guilt experienced by wanting to take her own life. We were allowed to experience her ambivalence without judging. This made the ending very satisfying. We confess that we were so taken with the storytelling aspect that we focused less on the voices, only remembering that all of the voices were better than adequate for their roles. This is an ensemble opera with a large cast all of whom were fine.. Due to the costuming it was difficult to tell the roles apart except for Sister Genovieffa who sang of missing the lambs that she used to tend; Margaux Frohlich made an impression with a very sweetly colored soprano.

There wasn't much opportunity for originality in the costuming but Marcia C. Kresge did well by La Principessa, giving the character a very believable regal Italianate appearance.

An English language translation of Giovacchino Forzano's libretto was projected very legibly and without glitch so we would like to commend Linda Cantoni.

Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley conducted his fine orchestra with sensitivity and subtlety, never overpowering the voices. In an unusual move, instead of filling out the evening with one or both of the other operas in Puccini's Il Trittico, Mo. Wiley programmed two concerti, each featuring a member of the orchestra. We enjoyed Nathan McKinstry's trumpet in a Haydn Concerto and. Anna Lien in a Harp concerto by Händel.  This programming decision allowed the full impact of the opera to sink in without the distraction of the violent Il Tabarro or the humorous Gianni Schicchi.

Before ending, we would like to share a bit of information that we never knew until we researched it. One of the earliest performances of Suor Angelica took place in the Tuscan convent to which Puccini's sister belonged. He played the score on the piano and sang all the roles himself; it was reported that all the nuns wept. Perhaps you will weep too when you see it...and we truly hope that you do. All subsequent performances will take place at 3:00PM this weekend and next.  Don't miss it!

© meche kroop

THE QUEEN OF BROOKLYN

Gennadiy Vysotskiy, David Freides, Gary Giardina, Handong Fu, and Samuel Roth

La Bohême might be the favorite opera among opera lovers; if not it is surely within the top five. Zefferelli's famed production at The Metropolitan Opera brings people back again and again and is always a sell out, beloved for its lavish sets and excellent casting choices. However, there is an intimacy to the production by The Regina Opera Company that made our trip to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn worthwhile.

Thank goodness, there was no directorial arrogance imposing weird concepts onto this masterpiece. Stage Director Sabrina Palladino truly knows how to honor the storytelling and how to work with Puccini's apt orchestrations. Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley led his professional orchestra in a fine reading of the score. 

In spite of the distance of over a century, contemporary audiences have no trouble relating to the story of a group of young people coming of age--just as Puccini was looking backward almost a century to a prior period. The episodic stories by Henri Murger were adapted by librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. We might say that growing up is hard to do and that the foibles of youth are generally painful. And we might realize that it was always so.

Puccini wisely chose to focus on two parallel romances, one supportive, the other exploitive. The intimacy of the production permitted us to learn more about the characters than we had realized in previous viewings. Musetta, for example, is a narcissist in Act II and must discover a vein of unselfishness in Act IV when she sells her earrings to provide some relief for the dying Mimi. Soprano Jennifer Moore made this quite clear whilst delivering a vocally excellent performance, revealing different aspects of her character in Acts II, III, and IV.

Poor Marcello is her victim and, as a sensitive and caring young man, lacks the resources to resist. Just watching baritone Handong Fu in Act II, trying with all his might to resist Musetta's exhibitionist wiles, tells us all we need to know about their destructive relationship which we witness in full force in Act III. Mr. Fu's vocalism and phrasing matched his superb acting.

Equally effective was tenor David Freides in the role of Rodolfo, expressing ardor by means of warm vocal coloration in Act I, subtly changing the color from that which he exhibited when horsing around with his flatmates. We noticed more subtle changes of coloration in Act III when his defensive blaming of Mimi yields to the terror of losing her. Another change could be observed as Mimi dies (sorry about the spoiler, LOL) and he is in denial. Reality is tough to face and these callow youths are all forced to mature, one of the few benefits to suffering.

Poor Mimi does not get the chance to grow up, nipped in the bud like the flowers she embroiders. Soprano Audrey DuBois Harris exhibited an enviable vocal talent with lustrous tone and apt phrasing. We tried an experiment and closed our eyes; we realized she was  "acting with her voice"! We hope the following will be taken as encouragement, not criticism. Some acting lessons would put an "A" performances into "A+" territory. It wouldn't matter on a recording but in a live performance we want to see a more convincing use of gesture, posture, and facial expression.

The character of Mimi offers so many opportunities for interpretation. Is she really just a sweet and innocent young woman or is she a bit of a hustler, inviting herself along on Christmas Eve to get a free dinner? Getting th gift of a free bonnet was not enough, she wanted more. What do you think Dear Reader?

Smaller roles were well handled. Bass Gennadiy Vysotskiy in the role of Colline gave a moving delivery of "Vecchia zimarra"; he is bidding farewell to his old overcoat to get money to ease Mimi's death. Perhaps he knows what the audience knows--he is bidding farewell to his carefree youth. Baritone Samuel Roth portrayed Schaunard, the only member of the four flatmates who has an income-- by teaching music. There is comic relief in his tale of poisoning the parrot with parsley but it is even funnier that his starving flatmates are only interested in the food he brought. As in Shakespeare's plays, comic relief sets off the tragedy.

Veteran character singer Gary Giardina brought humor to the roles of landlord Benoit and Alcindoro, Musetta's fopish "sponsor" who gets stuck with the bill for everyone's food and drink at Café Momus.

We would like to once gain commend the direction of Ms. Palladino. Even the guards at the city gates seemed believable. And kudos to Francine Garber-Cohen for producing operas as they are meant to be appreciated--acted, costumed, well sung, and with full orchestra. We need such a company in Manhattan. Speaking of costuming, here's a shout for Marcia C. Kresge whose costuming was period accurate and another shout for the excellent titles by Linda Cantoni.

The opera can be seen on four more occasions--November 15, 16, 22, and 23. There will be four different casts and we recognize some names we know from other performances. You won't be disappointed.

© meche kroop

AN AUTHENTIC LUCIA AT REGINA OPERA

Curtain Call at Regina Opera for Lucia di Lammermoor

It is quite a trek from Manhattan to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn but last night's performance of Donizetti's gothic tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor made the trip worthwhile, since this is one of our favorite operas. The latest iteration at The Metropolitan Opera left us with a bad taste in our mouth, staging the opera ridiculously in the Rust Belt of the USA in contemporary times. Although the singing was stellar we sat in anger wondering why the poor girl did not just get a bus ticket and leave her controlling brother! Fortunately, Stage Director Sabrina Palladino honored the libretto by sticking to Scotland in the late 17th c., a time of political turmoil and clan rivalry. 

Salvatore Cammarano's libretto, based somewhat on a Sir Walter Scott novel,  resonates with us today since it shows the enormous personal cost of tribal rivalry and the subjugation of women. Poor Lucia (the stunning coloratura soprano Makila Kirchner) is robbed of the love of her life, Sir Edgardo of Ravenswood (tenor José Heredia), by her selfish manipulative brother Enrico (Jonathan R. Green), who forces her to marry Lord Arturo Bucklaw (Josh Avant) to save himself from political ruin. This cannot end well and of course it doesn't. Lucia goes mad, stabs Arturo, hallucinates, and dies. Edgardo stabs himself when he learns of her death. Enrico is filled with remorse and shame.

This opera, an exemplar of the Bel Canto period, has traditionally been a vehicle for a star soprano, without which the work would fall flat. Ms. Kirchner did not disappoint, building her character from her first scene with her companion Alisa (mezzo-soprano Manya Gaver). In this scene, the soprano must foreshadow her psychotic break with reality by evincing an unstable psychological nature as she hallucinates the ghost of a murdered woman appearing at the fountain. At this, Ms. Kirchner got us about three quarters of the way there.

However, in the final act, her mad scene was totally convincing and Donizetti's decoration of the vocal line was used in the service of the character's madness. Trills, descending scale passages, the duet with the flute (sorry folks, no glass harmonica), cadenzas, and the ascent into the vocal stratosphere were all dazzling. Her acting was as on point as her fioritura. We cannot wait to hear more from this promising young artist.

Mr. Heredia gave a creditable performance as her unfortunate lover Edgardo. We have heard him a number of times in the past and are impressed by the consistency and reliability of his performance. He has a sizable instrument and uses it well.

Mr. Green's burly baritone suited the role of Lucia's controlling brother. We would have liked to have seen more variety of coloration in his voice and more specificity in his gestures. As it was, we found his interpretation to be unidimensional. The libretto makes it plain that he is a desperate man and his future can only be assured by Lucia's marriage to Bucklaw. Still, a little less violence and a little more pleading would have taken his performance to another level.

Jongwon Choi's performance as the family minister Raimondo was similarly lacking in dramatic intent. Like Mr. Green, his gestures were of the stock variety and failed to convince us that he was torn in his loyalties. At times, the low tessitura seemed to challenge him. We have seen him perform better.

The small role of Arturo does not give the tenor much to do and Mr. Avant did not do much to create a character. On the other hand Normanno, Captain of the Guard, has an important role inasmuch as he sets the tragedy in motion by spying on Lucia and reporting to her brother. The role needed a more forceful interpretation than that provided by tenor Lindell Carter. We have seen Mr. Carter a number of times and have found him fine sometimes and at other times we have been distracted by his tendency to mug and to make gestures inappropriate to the character.

Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley brought a nice shape to the performance and we heard some lovely sounds coming from the small wind section. The arpeggi  from the harp in Act I were enchanting. The orchestra was seated at ground level with the stage elevated. Although Ms. Kirchner's voice cut right through the sound, not every singer was so successful. We do not think this was a conducting flaw but rather that some of the singers did not project well.

We have always thought that singers make the best directors and were not surprised to learn that Ms. Palladino is indeed a singer. (She did similarly fine authentic work for Amore Opera's La Bohême.) The placement of the singers always made dramatic sense and no singer was asked to sing in a ridiculous position, something we have noticed happening at The Metropolitan Opera which seems to have become enchanted with directors who know nothing about opera.  

Similarly, costuming was completely appropriate, and flattering to the singers. The set was simple but effective, with small changes taking us from the castle to the garden to the Ravenswood tomb. The chorus sang well and added to the success of the production.

We greatly appreciate Regina Opera for giving us traditional opera, and so did the most enthusiastic audience. We learned that this company has survived for over half a century and, unfortunately, has no wish to perform in Manhattan.  More's the pity! 

© meche kroop