ZEMLINSKYS ZIMMER

Michael Boley, Mary-Hollis Hundley, and Eric McKeever

(photo by Philip Schneidman)

There seems to be a number of options available to opera goers in New York City. We have selections from the canon given lavish productions by the Metropolitan Opera and beloved standards given bare bones productions by an ever diminishing number of scrappy companies like Amore Opera. There is a slow stream of contemporary works with polemic subjects and non-musical music that no one ever cares to revisit as well as exciting productions of newly discovered works from the 18th and 19th century (by Lafayette Opera and Teatro Nuovo respectively). There are the daring companies like Heartbeat Opera that put original spins on the classics, and finally companies that bring to light some rather odd pieces that merit a hearing.

Of course we are speaking of Little Opera Theater of New York, known as LOTNY, which has just brought a rarity to light at The Fisher Center of The Brooklyn Academy of Music. We were pleased to attend opening night of Zemlinskys Zimmer and found much to enjoy--some fine singing in well-enunciated German, an excellent chamber orchestra that gave an admirable reading of Roland Freisitzer's reduction of the Zemlinsky score, and some gorgeous colorful projections by Kylee Loera.

The cultural scene of fin de siècle Vienna was responsible for a number of innovations in the visual and performing arts as well as some socio-sexual experimentation.  One has only to think of the wild adventures of Alma Schindler who threw aside composer/conductor Alexander Zemlinsky for composer/conductor Gustav Mahler, whom she also threw aside for a succession of lovers. One might speculate that Zemlinsky's choice of Oscar Wilde's unfinished play A Florentine Tragedy  (translated into German by Max Meyerfeld) as a subject for the opera we saw last night was based on his experience with the faithless Alma.

The story involves a woman named Bianca (how ironic!) who entertains a nobleman named Prinz Guido Bardi right under the nose of her merchant husband Simone. As directed by Philip Schneidman, the lustful lovers exercise minimal restraint in hiding their feeling. Simone (baritone Eric McKeever) plays a cat-and-mouse game with the Prince (tenor Michael Boley) and Bianca (soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley) who appear to ignore the warning signs of the rage behind Simone's obsequious behavior. The evening ends in a duel and a strangling of the Prince, after which Bianca fawns over her previously despised and disparaged husband. One imagines that Zemlinsky might have wished to strangle Mahler! One wonders whether Mahler and Alma were present at a performance.  Now that would have made a fine opera!

The three cast members are to be complimented on their fine singing as well as their not-so-subtle acting. The adulterous story was prefaced by the lovely Ms. Hundley reclining on a chaise longue, apparently awakening from a dream and singing Zemlinsky's luscious setting of Richard Dehmel's "Maiblumen blühten überall" against that afore-mentioned projected background reminiscent of visual arts of that period. 

This was followed by Mr. Boley  performing "Liebe Schwalbe" from Walzer Gasänge Op. 6,  a setting of text by Ferdinand Gregorovius. It seemed a marvelous opportunity to get acquainted with works by a composer who was quite famous in his time but whose light diminished when he fled the Nazis and wound up in New York.

Costumes by Lara Bruijn were a propos, as were the garments Simone brought out for the Prince to wear. Only one element stood out in a jarring way and that was the black corset worn by Bianca. We thought it should have been white like the other undergarments.

Now what about the score!  Stage left held most of the musicians; strings were joined by sufficient winds to provide color, including flute, clarinets, oboe, horns, trumpet, and trombone. On stage right, thrillingly right under our nose, were a celeste, a piano, and some exciting percussionists. Concertmaster was Stani Dimitrova and Maestro Tiffany Chang brought it all together, filling the space (comprising blessedly raked seating) with thrilling sound.

We will also mention that the titles by Dalia Sevilla were not the ordinary barely legible afterthoughts but made a part of the projections which also did a fine job of establishing time and place.

© meche kroop

 

THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT

Sylvia d'Eramo, Cory McGee, Gina Perregrino, Alec Carlson, Elizabeth Sarian, and Santa Fe Apprentices

The stars this night were big and bright and dazzling, and we are not even in Texas! We are at the Santa Fe Opera and it is the night we have been waiting for, the night when the Santa Fe Apprentices get to take starring roles in eight scenes. Usually the eight scenes comprise seven winners and one dud, the dud  being related to a poor choice of scene. 

Last night there was no disappointment. Each scene was well cast and well directed and our fussy ears were gratified by some exemplary singing, some by singers we have reviewed and enjoyed before, and some by singers new to us whom we look forward to hearing in the future.

As far as the direction, we noticed that one of our favorite directors, Mary Birnbaum, is now directing a cast of singers we know and love in La Bohême, an event we are looking forward to and will be reviewing this week. We were happy to witness the directing artistry of David Paul (new to Santa Fe, we believe), Katherine M. Carter who is new to us, Paul Curran, and Kathleen Clawson, whose directing skills have always impressed us.

The scenes were well chosen to highlight the available talent as well as to delight the audience who, we are inclined to believe, love melody as much as we do. Certain operas thrill us no matter how many times we have seen them. Their melodies wind themselves around our brain in loving embrace.

Take, for example, the opening scene of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Mr. Paul filled this prenuptial scene with warmth and joy, showing us a couple who can tease and bicker harmlessly as a prelude to a satisfying life together. We were reminded of the newly wed couple we saw in the Plaza yesterday and how touching is the promise of new beginnings. Bass Brent Michael Smith has the role of Figaro down pat and his Susanna, portrayed by soprano Cheyanne Coss, made a worthy counterpart, both vocally and dramatically. Their onstage chemistry was a delight to behold. 

Antonin Dvorák's Rusalka is best known for the title character's "Song to the Moon", a difficult aria which soprano Regina Ceragioli sang expressively. The Ježibaba of mezzo-soprano Kate Farrar was outstanding and we foresee a great future for her, given her textured instrument and stage presence. Significantly adding to the scene were Will Elphingstone's watery lighting and Hannah Schatzle's gorgeous costumes: a blue-green gown with a train trailing the width of the stage, used by Ms. Carter's direction to indicate the water from which this water nymph must free herself; and Ježibaba's costume with a huge cape which Ms. Farrar swirled around with malicious glee.

Everyone loves Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and the Act II quintet is so brilliantly written that we never tire of hearing it. Along with Ms. Carter's astute direction, we had some excellent costuming by Maria Laura Sandoval and Harley Haberman's gorgeous wig for mezzo-soprano Katherine Beck who made a fine Rosina. Bass-baritone Alan Higgs, costumed in an elegant red robe, nearly stole the scene with some impressive acting and singing as Dr. Bartolo.

Baritone Jarrett Logan Porter made a splendid Figaro with tenor Angel Romero as the determined Almaviva and bass-baritone Seungyun Kim as the silly Don Basilio whom the others cannot seem to get rid of. "Buona sera mio signore" has been dancing around our brain all night!

In the Act I duet from Donizetti's La favorita, we were wowed by the vocal gifts of mezzo-soprano Katherine De Young in the title role and of tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro as her Fernando who, like Don Basilio just will not leave. Both artists impressed us with the size and color of their instruments and the artistry with which they employed them. Mr. Ciaramitaro sang with the most perfect Italian and we understood every single word. 

We confess to being dismayed by the huge disparity in their heights, making their embrace an awkward affair. But that is a minor quibble. The maid Inès had but few lines but we want to hear more of mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble who sounded excellent. Naomi Beetlestone Detre's costumes were appropriate to the early 19th c.

On a simple set of boxes of graduated heights, mezzo-soprano Leia Lensing's Orfeo tried to lead a reluctant Euridice out of the underworld in Gluck's most famous opera. Who doesn't love "Che faro senza Euridice", known to every beginning vocal student! How wonderful to hear it sung by the excellent Ms. Lensing who gave each return of the verse a different set of ornamentation. It was all very tasteful in true Classical style, doing away with some of the excesses of the Baroque Era. Grace Kahl was convincing as the newly deceased Euridice who does not want to leave the peace of the Underworld. Becca Updyke's costumes were simple and right on the mark.

Of Wagner's entire Ring Cycle, our very favorite scene is the opening one of Die Walküre in which the woeful and weary warrior takes refuge in a hut in which he discovers a loveless woman who just so happens to be his beloved and long lost sister. Listening to Wagner's glorious music and poetic description of the discovery of a soulmate is unequalled in our book. 

As Sieglinde we were thrilled to hear the splendid soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley who seemed to have been made to sing Wagner. At this stage in her development, this is the perfect role for her; with her sizable instrument, we predict lots of heavier Wagnerian roles in her future. As her hapless brother/lover we were impressed by tenor Robert Stanley who not only sang with power and sensitivity but grew in stature and color as he discovered his identity. The sword Nothung was buried in an onstage tree, a sword which could only be extracted by himself. He blossomed as Sieglinde gave him the name of Siegmund. We felt a blossoming in our very own heart!

The final two scenes were exquisitely directed by Mr. Curran. Our only tiny quibble of the evening was that we wished the hilarious scene from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi had ended the evening so that the audience might have left in a great mood. The direction of this scene was so astute as to highlight Rinuccio's aria about the glories of Firenze; in this role we thrilled to the voice and stage presence of the very young tenor Joseph Tancredi about whom we have often written when he was an undergraduate at Manhattan School of Music. 

Mr. Curran had choreographed the unappealing members of the squabbling Busoni family to move in unison, all disparaging Rinuccio's attempt to bring his sweetheart's father Gianni Schicchi onboard to solve the inheritance dilemma. The more they unanimously scorned him and the unaristocratic Schicchi family, the more he stood out and we heard more in that aria than ever before.

As his sweetheart Lauretta, the versatile Ms. Coss gave a sweet rendition of "O mio babbino caro" with a marvelous messa di voce. In a clever directorial twist, she was complicit with the plot. Baritone Will Hughes was excellent in the title role, completely convincing as the wily manipulator. Ms. Lensing made a nicely nasty Zia; bass William Meinert made a very funny Dr. Spinelloccio, another character who just won't leave. There was a very funny bit with a bedpan. The remainder of the family comprised Elliot Paige, Andrew Moore, Ian Burns, Ms. Dibble, and Grace Kahl.

The evening ended with the final scene from Bizet's Carmen in which mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino filled out the role as successfully as she filled out the shocking pink ruffled flamenco gown with which she was costumed by John Polles. Mr. Curran's direction emphasized the violence of the relationship which was almost too convincing. Ms. Perregrino's superb singing was matched by excellent stage presence and chemistry with her discarded and vengeful lover Don Jose, performed with notable artistry by tenor Alec Carlson. Both of them sang with fine French diction.

For some reason, the action of the characters did not always match up with the dialogue. When Carmen most forcefully demands to be let go, she should be blocked or restrained by Don Jose.

Baritone Cory McGee portrayed Escamillo; soprano Sylvia D'Eramo sang the role of Frasquita and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarian joined in as Mercedes. Strangely, they were costumed as mid-20th c. sorority girls and Carmen's gown was open in the front revealing what looked like a black leotard. Only Escamillo seemed appropriately costumed.

It was an evening that could not be duplicated for sheer entertainment value. Those new to opera were offered the most tempting delicacies to tease their palate whereas experienced opera goers were given fresh looks at old standards and the opportunity to hear the stars of tomorrow.

There will be a new and different set of scenes next Sunday and if you are anywhere near Santa Fe we urge you to come on by, although we admit that this was a tough act to follow!

(c) meche kroop

MENOTTI'S RELEVANCE

Cast and Production Team for Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul presented by Bronx Opera

Bronx Opera has been delighting New York audiences for over 50 years. Distance has prevented us from reviewing their productions with any great regularity.  Add to that the fact that they perform everything in English, a language which we do not enjoy hearing sung. We loathe translations and cannot name many operas composed in English for which we can drum up any enthusiasm.

However, we have enjoyed Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium (with Caroline Nye in the starring role) and decided to take a chance on The Consul, and we are happy we did so. This is a very sad opera, and the saddest part of all is that the totalitarian governments and the consequent refugee situations still exist seven decades after Menotti selected this topic and wrote his own libretto. If only art could promote political change!

It doesn't matter which decade was chosen. Here, Director Rod Gomez chose to set the work in the 1980's.  It could have been today. The direction was excellent and the piece worked well as theater. Meganne George dressed the cast in drab attire and created a bare set out of scaffolding towers which held a door, a window, and....an oven.  If you see a gun in Act I, you are waiting for someone to get shot. When you see an oven...well, we are not going to tell you about baking bread!

The scenes alternate between the poor apartment of the Sorel's in a nameless totalitarian country, and a consulate which will remind audience members of any government agency they have visited in which there are endless forms to be filled out and passive-aggressive people in charge.

Mrs. Sorel's husband is involved in some kind of anti-government resistance and is on the run from the secret police who hound poor Mrs. Sorel into a state of misery. In this role we have the splendid soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley whose fine work we have reviewed on many occasions. We mostly recall her dignified and elegant creation of the Countess Almaviva at the Santa Fe Opera, and some lovely Russian singing at the George London Competition.

Last night will, we hope, be a breakout performance for her. She created a highly sympathetic character with whom it was easy to identify and the enthusiastic applause she received at the end let us know that others shared our opinion. Menotti, like most 20th c. composers, does not give the singers much to work with in terms of melody, and English can never show off the voice the way Italian does; still we were happy with what we heard.

As her mother-in-law, mezzo-soprano Caroline Tye was similarly affecting, especially when singing to the baby in the cradle. Ms. Tye is another artist we have reviewed and enjoyed upon many occasions. We lost count of how many performances she graced at Utopia Opera but our associations ran to another Menotti opera produced by New Camerata Opera in which she took the starring role in the aforementioned The Medium--a performance which encouraged us to attend last night.

Cara Search, who is new to us, had the role of the consul's secretary, the one demanding increasing numbers of forms to be filled out. Chuckles in the audience told us how many of us have had similar experiences with government bureaucracies. It was another fine performance.

Jeremy Moore did well as Mr. Sorel, appearing in the first act and again at the end. We recall his fine performance as Eugene Onegin for Utopia Opera. Joseph Gansert made a scary secret police agent.

Every tragedy needs some comic relief which was provided by Daniel Foltz-Morrison in the role of the magician/hypnotist Nika Magadoff who entertained the group of supplicants in the consul's office.  His appearance in the final scene was of a different nature but dramatically valid.

Baritone Conrad Schmechel portrayed John Sorel's friend Assan. We have only seen him previously in roles that allowed him to express his personality--we believe it was Papageno one time and El Dancairo another time.

The group waiting for visas comprised Ben Hoyer as Mr. Kofner, Leslie Swanson as a "foreign woman", Francesca Federico as Anna Gomez, and Amy Maude Helfer as Vera Boronel.

The same cast will perform next Saturday night and we recommend them highly. We took a look at the cast for the Sunday matinee performances and recognize some major talents there as well.  In either case you won't be disappointed.

Under the baton of Eric Kramer, the Bronx Opera Orchestra performed Menotti's music as finely as one would wish. We particularly enjoyed the wind section and paid particular attention to the oboe line, so beautifully played by Jacob Slattery. In Act II, he played the English Horn, the sound of which was (LOL) music to our ears. We sat close to the percussionist, Barbara Allen, who was on an elevated platform, and enjoyed that equally.

It seemed to us that Menotti's music was most lyrical during the interludes when no one was singing. We found that strange. We also found it peculiar that the tragic finale was accompanied by grandly heroic music. Was that meant to be ironic? If you, dear reader, can contribute something to our understanding of 20th c. music, please comment below.

(c) meche kroop

CANTAMI D'AMORE

Resident Artists of Teatro Nuovo in recital at Purchase College

There are so many superb events taking place at Purchase College this week that we cannot stay away. We loved the Tancredi (scroll down for review) and we are looking forward to this weekend's Medea.  But we also love vocal recitals and always welcome the opportunity to hear singers who are new to us. 

Three of the singers, however, were well known to us.  Mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh has never disappointed us over a period of about five years and we have been watching her star on the rise with great pleasure; we aver that her success is partly due to consistent devotion to her art and partly due to a mature sense of self and the determination to map and pursue her own course.

Last night, in a program comprising only Italian canzone, she performed a trio of excellent Donaudy songs, two of which we know well ("O del mio amato ben" and "Spirate pur, spirate") and another-- "Tregua non ho"-- which was new to us. They were sung with perfect Italianate phrasing and that rich mezzo we love hearing. The longing for lost love was beautifully conveyed.

Soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley has been on our radar screen for almost as long. Two years ago at the Santa Fe Opera Apprentices Recital, we thrilled to her dignified Countess in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro; we heard her Russian in "Iolanta's Arioso" from the Tchaikovsky opera at the George London Awards Recital; he have seen her perform with Utopia Opera a couple of times.

Last night we enjoyed her duet with the fine tenor Christopher Bozeka in Ciro Pinsuti's "Sovvenir", involving some lovely harmonies. We were not so thrilled with a pair of beloved Tosti songs because she made use of the loathed music stand and failed to connect. 

She was not alone in this detested usage. Several singers created the irritating image of trying to act whilst looking back at the score.  This is just wrong for a song recital and we cannot be persuaded otherwise. Singers! If you want to connect with your audience, take the trouble to learn the score and ditch the music stand. If you don't you run the risk of boring us!

Tenor Mingjie Lei is also known to us for the past five years, first as a student at Manhattan School of Music and then from award recitals of the Licia Albanese Foundation, the Giulio Gari Foundation, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation. One night, his Nemorino was so moving that we ourself suffered from una furtiva lagrima. Last night we only heard one song--"Torna piccina mia"-- by Cesare Andrea Bixio and admired the phrasing and expressive use of dynamics. 

Mezzo-soprano Elena Snow impressed us only when she ditched the music stand for Trindelli's "L'ombra di Carmen" in which the Gypsy Carmen explains herself to Don Jose. What an interesting concept! 

Mr. Bozeka was as fine in his solo--Donaudy's "Vaghissima sembianza"--as in the aforementioned duet. Just imagine the 14-year-old composer creating such compositional beauty! Mr. Bozeka also closed the program with the famous Bixio song which lent its name to the program--"Parlami d'amore, Mariú". The sound is a sweet one! 

An audience favorite was the jazzy Bixio song "Vivere" sung by tenor Derrek Stark whom we heard once with the Palm Beach Opera Young Artists Program.  In the group of Tosti songs, he sang our favorite "L'alba separa dalla luce l'ombra", whilst baritone Junhan Choi won our admiration with "Aprile". Mr. Choi was even better in Mascagni's "Serenata".

William Lee Bryan lent his mellow baritone to Luigi Denza's "Occhi di fata".

It was a great opportunity to hear some little known songs by the 20th c. composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari whose Italienisches Liederbuch is very different from that of Hugo Wolf. Five selections were performed by soprano Celeste Godin who imbued these popular Tuscan songs with personality and wry humor.

The accompanist and engaging host for the evening was Timothy Cheung, whom we also remember from our evening with the Palm Beach Opera Young Artists Program.

It was quite a treat to be acquainted with Italian songs performed by young artists! I would call the program "Cantami d'amore".

(c) meche kroop

APPRENTICE SCENES FROM SANTA FE OPERA

Mary-Hollis Hundley and Jacquelyn Stucker in a scene from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro  (photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

One of the best musical events taking place in Santa Fe in August takes place right in the gorgeous opera house a short drive north of the center of town.  We are speaking of the Apprentice Scenes, of which there are two evenings.  The first one took place on August 14th and the second one will take place on August 21st.  We always organize our visits to The City Different to include both evenings. It is our chance to hear the stars of tomorrow and we wouldn’t miss it for the world

Under the direction of David Holloway, the Apprentice Program carefully selects emerging talents whose stars are on the rise in the operatic firmament. Many of them are invited back for a second year of training and some of them will appear in subsequent summers in one or more of the five main operas.

The first of the two evenings provided many delights along with exposure to young artists, some of whom are new to us and others whose careers we have been following for the past few years. Some we know from competitions, some from their schools, and some from other programs.

These young artists also serve as members of the chorus or in small roles in the five operas presented over the summer.  But in the Apprentice Scenes, we get to see them in starring roles—as exciting for us as it is for them.  And not just for us, but for the crowd that packs in for the same reason as we do.  As an added bonus, the tickets are incredibly reasonable for such fine entertainment.

Most entertaining of the eight scenes presented was the final one on the program, which left the audience smiling. We long ago lost count of how many times we have seen Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro without ever losing our appreciation and enthusiasm for this divine comedy. In this case, the entire cast sang and acted in such a manner that brought out all of librettist Da Ponte’s humor. 

The scene chosen was the one in which the angry jealous Count and the anxious Countess return to the Countess’ boudoir to expose the hidden Cherubino.  The two sopranos were equally superb with Jacquelyn Stucker portraying the spunky Susanna and Mary Hollis-Hundley creating a lovely and dignified Countess.  As the furious Count, Jorge Espino went from rage to embarrassment to puzzlement. 

Arriving on the scene later were a quartet of characters, each with a different agenda but joined in a delightful dance. Bass-baritone Andrew Simpson made a very funny Antonio. Tenor Stephen Carroll portrayed the slimy Don Basilio; mezzo-soprano Nadia Farad enacted Marcellina with bass James Harrington as Don Bartolo.  

Kyle Long’s direction was delightful, eliciting every ounce of humor from the crazy situation. Maria Noel Nieto’s costumes were beautiful and accurately representative of Mozart’s period.

Similarly superb was the scene from Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, effectively directed by Matthew Ozawa, in which Grigori (tenor Andrew Marks Maughn) arrives at an inn close to the Lithuanian border. He is traveling in the company of two monks—Misael (tenor Stephen Martin) and the hilariously drunken Variaan, perfectly portrayed by bass David Leigh. 

Thanks to Russian opera we get great roles for brilliant basses!  We loved the brilliant bass Onay Kose in the role of Nikitch, the illiterate police officer. In a serious work like Boris Godunov, it is particularly welcome to have some comic relief; here, the monks took turns translating the arrest warrant to point the finger of suspicion toward the other.  Mezzo-soprano Mariya Kaganskaya made a fine Innkeeper with a lovely voice and stage presence. Nicole Grebb’s costumes were perfect.

Kathleen Clawson directed the scene from Giuseppi Verdi’s Stiffelio in which the hero confronts his unfaithful wife. We were so pleased to see tenor Cooper Nolan—well remembered from his starring roles at The Manhattan School of Music some years ago—as the enraged eponymous minister.  As his cheating wife, soprano Rebecca Krynski Cox, also remembered from MSM, went through several emotional phases without compromising her fine vocal technique. We liked Phoebe Miller’s authentic costume design  which, along with the wonderful singing, created a fine opener for the evening.

We enjoyed a wonderful trio of tenors in Gioachino Rossini’s Armida—the scene in which the knight Rinaldo (Peter Scott Drackley) must be rescued from the spell of the sorceress of the title. Benjamin Werley sang Ubaldo and the role of Carlo was taken by Adam Bonanni, whose crystal instrument soared. The three voices in harmony created a unique sound. Kyle Lang directed effectively and Jeni O’Malley’s costumes were splendid with Rinaldo lounging in linen and the two rescuers storming in wearing impressive armor.

The sorceress Armida is not present in this scene but in a scene from G. F. Handel’s Alcina, the eponymous sorceress is very much present.  Personified by the beautiful soprano Jacquelyn Stucker, Alcina is a force to be reckoned with as she uses every trick in the book to win the knight Ruggiero away from his beloved Bradamante.  The two mezzo-sopranos were excellent with Kirsten Choi as Bradamante and Briana Hunter giving an equally fine performance as Ruggiero. Director Jordan Fein staged the romantic triangle quite cleverly making use of a swiveling chaise longue.

So we were rather puzzled by Mr. Fein’s clumsy staging of Verdi’s La Traviata. Jailene Torres’ costumes disappointed equally. Violetta (Rebecca Nathanson) is supposed to be in her sickbed at dawn with Annina sitting vigil at her bedside.  But NO!  Violetta enters in a contemporary ball gown with Annina in street clothes.  The undressing made no sense and the collapsing and rising from the floor was not congruent with the libretto or the music.

The scene was abruptly truncated at an awkward place, but not until Alfredo was lying on the floor on top of the dying Violetta!  The staging was so disruptive that it interfered with our appreciation of the singing, although the entrance of Alfredo brought in the arrestingly pure tenor of Galeano Salas, almost making us forget the sins of direction.  We want to hear more of mezzo-soprano Evanna Chiew who sang the role of Annina and sang it well under adverse circumstances.

Those who favor contemporary opera probably enjoyed Matthew Ozawa’s staging of John Adams’ Nixon in China. We didn’t enjoy the opera some years back at the Metropolitan Opera, and didn’t enjoy it any more upon second hearing. Although the instrumental music, reminiscent of Philip Glass’, is interesting, the vocal lines are not. The singers are asked to deal with the difficult diphthongs of English at the very worst part of their range. Furthermore, intellectual sparring does not strike us as the right topic for an opera.  We most enjoyed the trio of Chinese secretaries—Evanna Chiew, Kristen Choi, and Nadia Farad.  If one can have three tenors, why not three mezzos!

The scene from Kismet struck us as silly.  Although we adore Alexander Borodin’s music, the work belongs on the Broadway stage— even with the finely trained operatic voices of Chelsea Davidson, Stephen Carroll, Jorge Espino, and James Harrington. We generally love to hear Broadway musicals performed in an opera house with trained voices, but the libretto here is just not worth Borodin’s music.

(c) meche kroop

RAPE!

Ben Cohen, Devony Smith, Hanne Dollase, Eldric Bashful, Gary Slavin, William Remmers, Mary-Hollis Hundley, Elizabeth Bouk, Stan Lacy

Maestro William Remmers is game to tackle any opera for which his audience votes. That is one of the unique qualities of Utopia Opera. We have certainly thrown some curve balls at him but he always hits them.  With Benjamin Britten's Rape of Lucretia, he hit it out of the park.

This is not an easy opera to love. The story is both brutal and tragic. The victim Lucretia, suffering from a combination of shame and guilt, pays the dramatic price by stabbing herself. We live in a world containing places where women are killed because of such loss of honor.  But Britten's librettist Ronald Duncan examines the story from the perspective of mid-20th c. Christianity.  In 21st c. New York City it carries an unsettling confrontational load, making us aware of that which we would avoid.

The work itself is largely declamatory with no beautiful arias to comfort us. The music is dissonant and perturbing, although powerful in its effect. However, there are moments of great beauty elicited by Mr. Remmers astute conducting of his 13-piece chamber orchestra. Tomina Parvanova's harp shimmers as Lucretia enters. There are some stunning harmonies in a duet of bass clarinet (Jeffrey Hodes) and horn (Brad Shaw).

Serving as narrators and guides for the audience are tenor Eldric Bashful, whose readings were as dramatic as his singing was lovely, and soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley, whose richly timbred instrument delighted us at the George London Competition.

As the eponymous Lucretia, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bouk made a noble but vulnerable heroine. We have been seeing a lot of this rising star lately--not only as a Utopia Opera regular, but also at Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. Her voice and acting are equally impressive.

As her two servants, the old nurse Bianca (mezzo-soprano Hanne Dollase) and the maid Lucia (soprano Devony Smith) made significant contributions to the evening's success. Their trio with Ms. Bouk in Act I and their "flower" duet in Act II provided some of the lovelier vocal sounds.

As the despised libertine Etruscan Prince Tarquinius, baritone Stan Lacy created a loathsome character who despises the whores he can have so easily and is stimulated by the thought of taking the only faithful wife in Rome. The rape scene was superbly staged by Director Gary Slavin, as was the rest of the opera.

The Prince kisses the sleeping Lucretia who is dreaming of her husband Collatinus and therefore responds. Is she complicit? In 21st c. America, men have to ask permission to take liberties. In 500 B.C. one supposes that men took all the liberties they wanted since women were property.

Bass Steven Fredericks sang the role of Collatinus, a Roman general of a peaceful and forgiving nature. His fellow general Junius (baritone Ben Cohen) has a slimy nature. He is envious of Collatinus' military glory and jealous of Collatinus' successful marriage.  Spurred on by the humiliation of being cuckolded by his own wife, he manipulates Tarquinius into a midnight gallop to Rome to ravish Lucretia. Although not equal to "The Ride of the Valkyries", Britten came up with some powerful music for this episode.

The libretto is interesting for its magnificent metaphors, i.e. "Thirsty evening has drunk the wine of light". However there were times when the metaphors made no sense and seemed excessive. Great contrast was made between the creativity of women and the destructiveness of men.

Last season we enjoyed a production of this opera at Juilliard. It was powerful then and it was again last night. Part opera, part play with music, and part oratorio, the work stands up to repeat performances.

We will have to wait until December to see and hear more from Mr. Remmers when he is tackling a genre with which he is very familiar--Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida. Watch for it!

(c) meche kroop