CARDONA DOES DON CARLO

Michael Fennelly, Ricardo Tamura, Julia Rolwing, Daniel Cardona, Ann McMahon Quintero, Daniel Lickteig, Matthew Curran and Jeremy Galyon

When Daniel Cardona, Founder and Artistic Director of the Martha Cardona Theater, undertakes to present one of his evenings of opera, you can rest assured that the talent onstage will be unparalleled.  Last night at Christ and St. Stephens Church he presented Verdi's longest opera--but the evening flew by.  Truth to tell, he presented excerpts from the opera in concert version; all the major highlights were there--arresting arias, divine duets, terrific trios, and a quality quartet.

We don't know how Mr. Cardona managed to assemble such a perfect cast but it was a dazzling assemblage of talent.  As the tragic eponymous hero, we heard tenor Ricardo Tamura, often heard at The Metropolitan Opera.  Hint:  he is singing the role at The Met this Spring.  Don't say we didn't alert you.

As the woman he loves, the French Princess Elisabetta, we heard the fine soprano Julia Rolwing.  As his best friend Rodrigo, baritone Daniel Lickteig exhibited a fine tone and a sympathetic character.  The marvelous mezzo Ann McMahon Quintero took on the role of The Princess Eboli and somehow managed to evoke sympathy for this jealous vengeful character.

Even King Fillipo II, a thoroughly detestable character who has his own son murdered, as sung by bass Matthew Curran, had a moment of sympathy when he sang the famous aria "Ella giammai m'amo!"; an old man suffers when he realizes his wife, stolen from his son, never loved him.

The only character for which one can feel no sympathy whatsoever is The Grand Inquisitor.  Bass Jeremy Galyon has a particularly penetrating sound that was just right for the man that has even the King quaking in his boots!

So aptly cast were these singers and so perfectly sung were their roles that we were on the edge of our seat (a pew, actually).  Large voices all--the kind you rarely get to hear nowadays.

In the role of the page Tebaldo, the beautiful young soprano Madison Marie McIntosh revealed a gorgeous light tone that matched well with that of Ms. Quintero in a highly decorated vocal line.  About to graduate from Mannes, Ms. McIntosh has also made good use of her training with the good folks at Classic Lyric Arts.

The opera itself is one of our favorites.  Happily, the choice was to sing it in Italian in the Modena version, rather than the original French version.  Just as happily, the Fontainebleu scene was included; it shows how Don Carlo and Elisabetta fall in love and thereby justifies all the grief and jealousy and conflict which result.

The opera is about an impossible love; what's a man to do when his father decides to marry his intended bride for political reasons?  The opera is about loyalty; Rodrigo sacrifices his life so that Carlo can fulfill his political destiny.  The opera is about betrayal; Princess Eboli rats out her mistress Queen Elisabetta out of jealousy and envy. The opera is about power; King Phillip II (Fillipo II) has enough power to subjugate the poor Flemish, enough to get the girl, and enough to dispatch his son, but not enough to trump The Grand Inquisitor whose threats are anything but empty. It asks the question "How can love survive in an atmosphere of terror and suspicion?"

Some of our favorite scenes include the one in which Princess Eboli realizes that Don Carlo loves Elisabetta and not her.  What wrath was exhibited by Ms. Quintero! Another favorite was Filippo's aforementioned aria in which Mr. Curran succeeded in evoking our sympathy for this pathetic ruler. Ms. Quintero's "O don fatale" brought down the house.  Let us not forget the scene in which Rodrigo comes to Carlo's prison, accompanied by repetitive alternations between half-tones in the piano,  and expresses his loyalty and wish to die for his friend-- "Io morrò".  Mr. Tamura and Mr. Lickteig were incredibly effective in this duet.  Finally, Ms. Rolwing's handling of the wide jumps in "Tu che le vanità" were impressive.

The score was played on the piano by the always amazing Michael Fennelly.  Although this is one of the few remaining productions that The Met has yet to trash and one which we love, we enjoyed the piano reduction and the opportunity to hear some sensational voices.  

© meche kroop

QUINTESSENTIAL QUINTILIANI

Barbara Quintiliani

It was during the set of Strauss songs that we had this thought:  "Ms. Quintiliani was born to sing Strauss".  Then we realized that during the Donizetti we thought her voice was perfect for bel canto.  By the end we realized that this abundantly gifted soprano could sing just about anything.

With an instrument that is as flexible as it is ample, this artist also has a delightful and engaging stage presence and a winning sense of humor.  There is not a whiff of diva about her.  She could be the girl next door until she opens her mouth to sing. She possesses a voice of great power that she can rein in with consummate control in the pianissimo passages.

Although she states that she is mostly given work as a crazy harridan, we enjoyed the way she can also express tenderness as in Strauss' tear-jerker "Befreit" in which a couple faces the death of one of them with courage and acceptance.  Nonetheless, our favorite in the Strauss set was "Die Nacht".

The first time we heard Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia was at Caramoor last summer and we were thrilled to get a second hearing of "M'odi, ah M'odi...Era desso" in which the titular character is begging her son to accept the antidote to the poison she has just administered (!).  She goes through a panoply of emotions ending in remorse and abject grief.  Ms. Quintiliani got them all right with a veritable explosion of fioritura.

She gave a fine performance of four early songs by Verdi in which one can hear his bel canto roots as well as the crafting of melodies one would observe in his later operas.  Our hands-down favorite was "Non t'accostare all'urna" in which the ghost of the singer berates the man who grieves-- his love is too little and too late.  Ms. Q's voice dripped with rejection and scorn. There was an enviable portamento as well.

To relieve the intensity, Ms. Q. sang the delightful "Brindisi" to which collaborative pianist Sean Kelly provided the oom-pah-pah accompaniment.

Also on the program was an aria from Cherubini's Médée--"Vous voyez de vos fils", in which the heroine gives way to her fury which remains an  undercurrent even when she pleads for Jason's return.  We never heard Callas sing it but we don't think there could be a more fiery performance than the one we heard last night.

We also heard two songs that were new to us by the Dutch/American composer Richard Hageman in which the piano writing was particularly lovely and beautifully played by Mr. Kelly.

"Ocean! thou mighty monster" from Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon closed the program but didn't end the delights, since Ms. Q. provided a most welcome encore--"Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" from Catalanis La Wally.  It was then that we had the thought: "This artist is born to sing realismo opera".  Now we are wondering what she sounds like in something by Wagner.  That's just something to look forward to!  Martha Cardona Theater might just be the one to undertake that!  Daniel Cardona, are you listening?

Let it be noted that diction was equally fine in English, Italian, French and German.

© meche kroop

BIG, BIGGER AND BIGGEST VOICES

Samantha Guevrekian, Zhanna Alkhazova, Kelly Griffin and Kristen Choi

Daniel Cardona, Founder and Artistic Director of The Martha Cardona Theater has a knack for finding gifted young singers who can handle the heavier repertoire.  Last night we enjoyed hearing a group of talented artists with big voices which literally begged for a large hall.  Although accompanied by "only" a piano we could imagine their voices soaring above or tearing right through a large orchestra.  Musical Director Keith Chambers brought out things in his piano reduction that sometimes pass us by when played by a full orchestra.

Only one of the singers was known to us.  Russian-American soprano Zhanna Alkhazova is a veritable force of nature, like a hurricane; never losing her firm grasp on solid technique, she invests each aria with the passion we want to hear at the opera.  We have heard her as Donna Elvira (review can be found by entering her name in the search bar) and was happy to learn that her French in Jules Massenet's "Il est doux, il est bon" from Hérodiade was just as fine as her Italian in "D'Oreste, d'Ajace" from Mozart's Idomeneo.  With arias of two different moods, she used her skills at word coloring to fine advantage, tender in one and fierce in the other.

Soprano Kelly Griffin has a substantial instrument as well, singing "Pace, pace mio Dio!" from Verdi's La Forza del Destino with deep involvement, building to a powerful anguished climax.  In "Ritorna vincitor!" from Verdi's Aida, she created a most believable character, tortured by ambivalence.  Would it be love or familial loyalty that wins out? 

The second half of the program was devoted to scenes from Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Soprano Samantha Guevrekian made a sensational Cio-Cio San, a role she will perform this summer at The Glimmerglass Festival.  We predict a huge success, judging by how well she sang  "Un bel di" which she performed without a score, letting the audience into her deluded feelings of hopefulness. 

Fortunately, Kristen Choi, the mezzo who sang Suzuki in the Flower duet, will be in the cast with her.  Ms. Choi has a rich mezzo sound, especially in the lower range and the two of them not only harmonized beautifully but faced each other and created a real relationship.

In the love duet from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Kyle Van Schoonhoven sang the role of Lt. Pinkerton.  He has a sweet tenor with a lovely resonance and gave a well-modulated performance, hampered only by being "on the book".  Having created a considerable amount of engagement in spite of this impediment, we can imagine how superb he will be without it.

In "Io so che sue dolore" Pinkerton is admonished by Sharpless (John Boehr) and in "Addio fiorito assil" he effectively expresses remorse.  Mr. Van Schoonhoven handled the mood changes nicely injecting his voice with different colors.

By the end "Tu, tu piccolo" (Ms. Guevrekian, off the book) we were close to tears, always a good sign for this opera!

We heard more from baritone John Boehr earlier in the evening when he sang "Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen"; although we understood the words, we thought his pronunciation could be polished up a bit.  In the role of Silvio in Leocavallo's "E allor perchè", he was persuasive as he pressured Nedda (Ms. Guevrekian) to run away with him.  They harmonized beautifully in a very sweet ending, hampered only by the presence of music stands.  Readers know how strongly we feel about this; singers are prevented from making contact with each other and with the audience to the fullest extent.  We are sure there are reasons, perhaps lack of time for preparation.  But we stand our ground!

Tenor Thomas Dehorney sang "De' miei bollenti spiriti" from Verdi's La Traviata which we had just heard the night before.  Mr. Dehorney has a lovely quality in his voice and some fine phrasing.  All he needs to do to really shine is to loosen up his body.  He was more expressive in Ernesto De Curtis' "Non ti scordar di me" with an impressive crescendo at the climax.

© meche kroop

DONT MISS THIS DON

Carlos Monzon, Madison Marie McIntosh, Elias Notas, Alexandra LoBianco, Zhanna Alkhazova, William Browning, Kian Freitas, Benjamin Robinson

The Martha Cardona Theater was established four years ago by Daniel Cardona with a mission of producing opera for the people at affordable prices and providing opportunities for young singers.  We just now discovered them when we were invited to review their concert version of Mozart's Don Giovanni; in view of the excellence of this production we now consider ourselves a fan.  The eight singers were excellently chosen, as was the conductor Tyson Deaton and the accompanist Tristan Cano who capably dealt with the many different styles of music Mozart saw fit to  lavish upon this tale of a rogue who meets his end at the hands of the ghost of a man he killed in a duel--the Commendatore who was defending his daughter Donna Anna.  The libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte invests this tragic tale with a great deal of comedy, none of which was overlooked by the agile cast of singers.

Mozart's portentous opening chords are followed immediately by the humorous remarks of the Don's much-abused servant Leporello.  Baritone Carlos Monzon missed none of the wry humor and sang with an admirable depth and breadth of tone.  The Don then enters the scene, full of himself, with Donna Anna in hot pursuit; she is determined to learn the identity of her would-be attacker.  A glorious trio in perfect balance establishes the relationship of the characters.  Baritone William Browning made a fine Don both vocally and dramatically.  Soprano Alexandra LoBianco has a large and pleasing sound and created a sympathetic character; who could not feel for her grief at losing her father!  Her stalwart and loyal fiancé Don Ottavio (tenor Benjamin Robinson) is there to console her with his sweet voice.  The tenor has two fine arias--"Dalla sua pace" and the difficult "Il mio tesoro" in which he demonstrated fine breath control.  Donna Anna was remarkable in "Non mi dir".

Enter Donna Elvira, a role which requires a large sound; soprano Zhanna Alkhazova fulfilled the requirements of the role to perfection.  She has been seduced and abandoned by the Don and pursues him throughout the opera.  Her "Mi tradito" was superb as she did a fine job of limning the ambivalence Donna Elvira has toward her love object.  A high point of the opera is Leporello's delivery of the so-called Catalogue Aria in which he disabuses Donna E. of her romantic notions.  The Don has seduced thousands of women!  Interestingly, during the course of this opera he never succeeds; but oh, how he tries!

His next attempted conquest is that of the naive peasant girl Zerlina on the day of her marriage to Masetto.  Soprano Madison Marie McIntosh has the adorable appearance and bright young sound needed for this role and bass-baritone Kian Freitas was excellent as the ironic and suspicious Masetto.  Zerlina has two charming arias in which she succeeds in manipulating Masetto out of his moods--"Batti, batti" and "Vedrai carino".  The famous duet with the Don "La ci darem la mano" was well handled.  Bass Elias Notus had a commanding presence as Il Commendatore.

The diction was exemplary; at certain points the sur-titles went missing but not a word was lost.

There will be one more opportunity to experience this superb cast who will be performing the opera at Symphony Space on Thursday, December 12th.  Consider this event to be highly recommended.

© meche kroop