OPERA SCENES AT MANNES

Susan Woodruff and her students at Mannes School of Music

What a wealth of talent we witnessed onstage last night! We saw scenes from 10 wonderful operas--all favorites--and Benjamin Britten's Canticle II. Every student onstage  had excellent technique, fine diction, and convincing dramatic skills. We were impressed that the students themselves did the direction. Minus sets and costumes, the acting was sufficient to establish the situation. Moreover, the excellent titles projected behind the singers gave the background to the scene and its place in the opera. Even a person who had never seen an opera could have sat there and enjoyed the singing and the drama.

Scenes were carefully chosen to highlight the skills of each singer and not one was pushed beyond his/her capabilities. Thankfully, there was no Verdi, Puccini or Wagner--not that we don't love them but we hate to hear young singers pushing their voices. 

We simply don't know where to begin extolling the virtues of this splendid group of singers. The program opened and closed with counter-tenor Siman Chung (and regular readers will recall how much we love this fach); he opened with the Britten, singing Isaac to tenor John Park's Abraham. We have lost no love on bible stories but the sound of their two voices joined as the voice of God was otherworldly. Mr. Chung closed the program singing Tancredi to the Amenaide of soprano Lauren Yokabaskas in the Rossini opera; there was a great deal of excitement in the fiery second part of the duet. 

Ms. Yokabaskas also excelled as Vitige to Allison Gish's Teodata in Handel's Flavio, Re de Longobardi, an opera we would love to hear in toto. She also made a marvelously dignified Donna Anna in a scene from Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Allison Gish demonstrated talent in a variety of roles as well: she seems to have an affinity for Handel, doing justice to the role of Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto with mezzo-soprano Yinpei Han as her son Sesto. She also did well as Romeo in a scene from Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi. She was also one of the three henchwomen of the Queen of the Night tormenting  Papageno, sung by baritone Sunyeop Hwang.

Mr. Hwang put in an appearance as Lorenzo in the Bellini and as the Count in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. That scene was particularly well done with Xiuyan Fan as his Countess and Ana Capetillo as Susanna. Ms. Capetillo was excellent as Manon in the eponymous opera by Massenet, creating a character that projected innocence with a hint of wildness going on underneath. Her ardent suitor Des Grieux was sung by tenor Fanyong Du with a pleasant ease of tone.

Baritone Matthew Cossack showed a great deal of versatility and a good sense of humor as the much put-upon Taddeo to Yinpei Han's Isabella (in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri). with Ms. Han as confident in her coloratura as she was in her characterization. Mr. Cossack made a persuasive Don Giovanni trying to seduce Zerlina (the very winning Malorie Casimir, who excels at being adorable). 

Ms. Casimir made a superb Sophie in the final trio of Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. This just might be our very favorite trio of all time and we loved the way Ms. Casimir's voice blended with that of Courtney Johnson as the Marschallin and Wan Zhao as Octavian. Each character voices her innermost thoughts and come together in a blend that fills and satisfies us.

Ms. Casimir also sang Giulietta with Wan Zhao as her Romeo in a kind of "tag-team" presentation of the scene in which Romeo tries to persuade her to run away with him.  This was not Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet but we loved it just the same. Ms. Zhao was very forceful!

We heard Ms. Johnson's richly textured soprano as the very angry Donna Elvira trying to rescue Ms. Casimir from Mr. Cossack's clutches in the scene from Don Giovanni. Janggon Kim sang the role of Don Ottavio.

We must not forget to mention the other two ladies (henchwomen) from Die Zauberflote. Joining Ms. Gish in giving Papageno a hard time were Ms. Johnson and Wan Zhao. That just might be our second favorite trio!  Janggon Kim was Tamino.

That was a lot of singing and performing to digest and we apologize if we left anyone out. The scenes were accompanied by Ms. Woodruff at the piano. She deserves to be proud of her students and there isn't one we wouldn't want to listen to again.

(c) meche kroop

WE DRANK IT AND FELL IN LOVE

Eunjin Jung, Kidon Choi, Pavel Sulyandziga, Sara Papini, Matthew Cossack

L'Elisir d'Amore is the perfect opera for a young cast. Gaetano Donizetti filled it to the brim with memorable melodies; librettist Felice Romani peopled it with characters that embody all the struggles of young love. Nemorino is a shy fellow in love with the vivacious and fickle Adina. She treats him dismissively as the young tend to do with those who put them on a pedestal.

To make him jealous she agrees to wed an arrogant army officer. In desperation, he buys a love potion from the traveling "doctor" Dulcamara. The potion is just Bordeaux and he gets very tipsy.  Meanwhile, the young ladies of the town learn that he has inherited a great deal of money and surround him with attention. He believes it's because of the love potion. Now it's Adina's turn to get jealous.

Of course, it all works out in the end and we leave the theater grinning from ear to ear.  The Mannes Opera gave Donizetti's 1832 comic masterpiece (which Donizetti tossed off in six weeks) a fine production at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This just happens to be a fine comfortable theater with great sight lines but there is something strange about it's bi-level orchestra pit.

The strings are just a bit lower than the audience, with the winds behind and a level below that. Artistic Director and Conductor Maestro Joseph Colaneri conducted The Mannes Orchestra which turned in a well-balanced performance. The strings lay down a luscious carpet of sound with important contributions from the winds, particularly in Nemorino's big aria "Una furtiva lagrima", marked by some lovely arpeggios on the harp (Elena Caramihai).

The singers are all graduate level students at Mannes School of Music, which is part of The New School. Each and every one turned in a stellar performance and seems headed for a fine future in the opera world. The lead couple--soprano Sara Papini as Adina and tenor Pavel Sulyandziga as Nemorino--were perfectly cast and completely convincing in their acting. Adina is spunky and full of personality; Nemorino is shy and unassuming. Their body language told a great deal about their characters.

Similarly, the outrageous character of Dr. Dulcamara was well portrayed by bass-baritone Kidon Choi who manifested no difficulty with the wide range. As the self-important Belcore, baritone Matthew Cossack was admirable. Eunjin Jung was a pert Giannetta.

The direction of Laura Alley kept things moving forward nicely with plenty of appropriate stage business. Costume Designer Helen E. Rodgers duplicated the fashions of the 50's quite accurately, even dressing Adina in a poodle skirt. But, may we ask, how does setting this opera in the 1950's make it more relevant? We wondered how many people in the audience were alive 60 years ago!

Instead of a wealthy landowner, Adina is now the proprietor of a pasticceria in Little Italy. Roger Hanna's painted set, representing a street corner, was so accurate that we recognized the locale! We are convinced he copied Caffé Roma on Broome St. (If we are wrong we will atone by eating a dozen sfogliatelle!)

The chorus sings about sitting in the shade near a stream!  Other references in the libretto have been mistranslated to allow for Dr. Dulcamara to be driving a "snazzy car". We could justify the presence of military personnel because the time period coincided with the Korean war. But how do we account for Sergeant Belcore carrying around enlistment papers in his pocket and paying cash to Nemorino to enlist? We suppose most people would just overlook these anachronisms but they do bother us, purists as we are. But they didn't bother us enough to spoil the fun.

Mr. Sulyandziga's "Una furtiva lagrima" was delivered with his hands in his pockets, every nuance coming strictly from his voice. Never have we ever wanted so much to see a guy get the girl!

(c) meche kroop