LOVE: RUSSIAN STYLE

Dina Pruzhansky, Briana Hunter, Meryl Dominguez, Sungwook Kim, and Paul An

In its annual coproduction with the Lyric Chamber Music Society, Bare Opera presented a delightful evening of Russian song and arias. The cast could not have been better chosen, nor could the material have been better curated. Composer/pianist Dina Pruzhansky contributed to the pleasure in several ways--first by narrating and introducing the selections, encouraging the singers to give their take on the material--but, more significantly by her stunning pianism.

Regular readers will recall our distaste for contemporary compositions but the pen of Ms. Pruzhansky plays a different tune, paying tribute to the composers of the 19th c. whom we so greatly admire. We do love melody and her songs have no lack of melodic invention. We noticed most of all how well the melodies reflected the sound of the Russian language. One advantage of hearing songs in a language one doesn't speak is that one can hear the abstract connection between the language of the poet and the rise and fall of the vocal line.

The poet in question was Alexander Blok, a symbolist poet whose words were probably not completely comprehensible in Russian and rather untranslatable into English. In this case, tant mieux! Meryl Dominguez, a singer we remember well from Santa Fe Opera, gave the four miniatures an excellent performance with great attention paid to the sound of the words. Each song had a different mood and the final one was filled with anxiety. We are really looking forward to hearing more of Ms. Pruzhansky's music at Carnegie Hall on March 3rd.

Ms. Dominguez' soprano is a generous one and her performance of Shemakha's "Hymn to the Sun" from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel was glorious in its melismatic seduction, all done in an Eastern mode. Her voice opened like a parasol at the top of the register. We loved that opera in Santa Fe when Ms. Dominguez was in the chorus. We would love even more to hear her sing the role of Shemakha! We shall put that on our wish list.

Mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter, always astonishing in her ability to enter a role and give it all she's got, gave an outstanding performance of Olga's arioso "Ah, Tanya, Tanya" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. She explained to the audience how unusual it was to assign the role of a light hearted girl to the mezzo fach; yet when she sang it the feeling was perfectly natural and it was easy to visualize the reserved Tanya sitting in a chair nearby, mildly accepting the loving teasing from her extroverted sister.

The sister, we know, is no saint and somewhat lacking in judgment, having also teased her devoted Lensky by flirting outrageously with Onegin, thus provoking a duel--which takes us to the next selection on the program. Tenor Sungwook Kim was so convincing in Lensky's aria "Kuda, kuda" that our emotions got drawn in. We had to stifle the urge to rush up and stop the duel! And Mr. Kim accomplished all this with pure vowels and crisp consonants. He paced himself well and built to a searing climax.

Bass Paul An shone in Aleko's cavatina "The entire Gypsy camp is asleep" from Rachmaninoff's first opera Aleko, adapted from Pushkin's poetry, as was Eugene Onegin, and so many other works on the program. The piano prelude was particularly portentous. Mr. An impressed us with a pianissimo note, floated at the upper end of the register; this is exactly what we like to hear from tenors and hearing it from a bass just blew us away.

Strangely enough, three days ago we reviewed a song cycle by Janáček about a young peasant who runs off with a gypsy woman. Aleko begins where that cycle ends!

Three songs by Rachmaninoff were finely handled as well. Ms. Dominguez exhibited her fine vibrato in the upper register in "Sleep" whilst Ms. Pruzhansky's piano created a dreamlike state with some gorgeous arpeggi.

Mr. Kim performed "Dream" in lovely fashion; he surely knows how to swell a note in careful crescendo and how to hold a note with sustained energy--all evidence of superlative breath control. He generated lots of excitement in an expansive delivery of "Spring Waters", amplified by parallel excitement in the piano.

Ms. Pruzhansky delighted us with a solo--Tchaikovsky's Nocturne in C# minor, begun at a leisurely tempo but moving on to a livelier theme and ending with what in vocal performance would be called embellishment of the line. We hope pianists will forgive our lame description but we are unaccustomed to writing about piano music.

The conclusion of the program was a quartet by Alexandre Dubuque, a 19th c. composer of French origin who was raised in Russia. The song "Don't Be Cunning" involved men making advances and women rejecting them. The gimmick of the performance, which took it right into the 21st century, was that the men kept trying to take selfies with the women. It was all in good fun and made the perfect end for a perfect concert.

© meche kroop

TRAGEDY TONIGHT--COMEDY TONIGHT

Kathleen Felty, Kaitlyn McMonigle, Kathleen Reveille, and Erica Petrocelli
(photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

Amy Owens and Colin Ramsey (photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

What a dazzling finish to our time in Santa Fe!  The exemplary nature of the final Apprentices Recital left us with glorious memories and the determination to return next August. Under the experienced guidance of Gayletha Nichols, the next crop of young artists have a high bar to surmount! There is a reason why the pair of Apprentice Recitals are always sold out. The young artists get a chance to be center stage, performing in a varied selection of scenes and the members of the audience get a chance to see the stars of tomorrow at a very modest ticket price of $15. In our opinion, the evening is worth tenfold the price.

Opening the evening was one of our very favorite scenes--the opening of Tchaikovsky's 1881 Eugene Onegin. This scene successfully establishes the characters of Tatyana and Olga, the two very different daughters of Madame Larina; it also shows us life in provincial Russia in the late 19th c. (We are always grateful for the preservation of the original setting; this opera demands it.) 

Soprano Erica Petrocelli made a lovely introspective Tatyana and allowed us to see the reserved dignity that would make its appearance by the finale of this tragic masterpiece; her tone was youthful and distinctive.  With three mezzo-sopranos onstage at once, we were happy to note their differentiation. As the bubbly sister Olga, Kathleen Reveille had a girlish spontaneity, whilst Kaitlyn McMonigle injected a note of maturity and a touch of melancholy as she and her friend, the nursemaid Filipyevna (Kathleen Felty) reminisced about their own youth. 

We love the easy way the two women had with one another and recall their message about the mature acceptance of the routine of life, a message Tatyana would live by as well. James Robinson's direction and Mackenzie Dunn's costumes brought everything together. The excellent singing was marked by some fine Russian diction.

The second scene brought us to the world of comedy, not just comedy but silly hilarity. In this scene from Jacques Offenbach's 1858 operetta Orphée aux enfers, Jupiter disguises himself as a fly and buzzes around the bored Eurydice. Soprano Amy Owens and bass Colin Ramsey distinguished themselves with some superlative singing in glorious Gallic style. We have included a photo to show Reilly Johnson's clever costumes. Director Mo Zhou ensured that the singers made great use of the space, the feathers, and the wings.  What a treat!

Act III of Verdi's 1851 Rigoletto is unutterably tragic; soprano Regina Ceragioli made a touching Gilda with the innocent coloring of her sweet soprano. Baritone Kenneth Stavert colored his voice darkly and gave an impressive performance as the eponymous jester. We have always found a great deal to admire in the performances of mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino; her Maddalena lived up to our expectations, and perhaps exceeded them. This Maddalena was a real character, not a stereotype! Bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian had the right low notes for Sparafucile and the fine Mexican tenor Abraham Bretón wowed the audience with his "La donna è mobile". Director Fernando Parra Borti staged the scene well but, for some reason, ended the scene abruptly after Gilda enters the tavern at midnight. This left us hanging and feeling unfulfilled.

Puccini's lighthearted 1917 La Rondine is always fun. Soprano Meryl Dominguez made a lovely Magda, out for a flirtatious night at a café dansant  in disguise, experimenting with a new "self". Sitting with Ruggero (tenor Mackenzie Gotcher) she is "discovered" by her chambermaid Lisette (soprano Abigail Rethwisch) whilst the poet Prunier (terrific tenor Joshua Blue) tries to cover up for Magda. Kathleen Clawson's excellent direction created a whirlwind of excitement with Lisette acting wildly. Sage Foley's turn of the 20th c. costumes were lovely.

Mr. Borti also directed the Act II sextet from Mozart's 1787 Don Giovanni. We loved the singing but did not care for the "update". Everyone wore contemporary street clothes; Leporello (booming bass Brent Michael Smith) and Donna Elvira (the full-throated soprano Sarah Tucker) were depicted in bed together!  There are those who enjoy these updating but we are not among them. We did, however, enjoy the singing, especially that of soprano Mathilda Edge, whose Donna Anna was superb. We were happy to hear Mr. Ramsey again in the role of Masetto with mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarian as his flirtatious bride Zerlina. Rounding out the ensemble was tenor Elliot Paige as the loyal Don Ottavio. The voices harmonized beautifully, thanks to Music Director Glenn Lewis.

Handel's 1711 Rinaldo was represented by the Act III duet between Argante, King of Jerusalem, and the sorceress Armida. The duet was perfectly cast with the admirable bass-baritone Erik Van Heyningen and the exceptional soprano Stacy Geyer who impressed us so highly as Elvira in L'Italiana in Algeri. James Ramsay Arnold's baroque costumes were absolutely gorgeous, and the entire scene felt authentically baroque.

Leoncavallo wrote a most affecting duet for Nedda and Silvio in his 1892 Pagliacci. Silvio pleads for Nedda to run away with him but the frightened Nedda resists. Director Mo Zhou gave the pair some very interesting stage business which added greatly to the excellent performances of soprano Shannon Jennings and baritone Benjamin Taylor. They drew us into their private world and we wound up caring for them, although we knew their tragic ending.

We would have been happy to end the evening there before a scene for Carlisle Floyd's mid-20th c. Wuthering Heights. Although the melodramatic story has an operatic grandeur to it, the opera seemed to reduce it to a drawing room conflict that made no sense. We did not like the music at all. Readers will recall that our 19th c. ears are never quite comfortable with music written after Richard Strauss. Still, the singers were all excellent, although we were never completely sure who was whom. . So we will leave it at that with kudos for Ms. Petrocelli, Ms. Dominguez, Gillian Lynn Cotter, William Hughes, and Anthony Ciaramitaro who did their best with the unmelodic vocal lines, and also for costumer Rebecca Kendrick who had everyone looking perfectly 19th c.  If only the music had sounded like the costumes!

Well, the evening was varied and provided something for everyone, with all centuries represented and several languages as well. We can scarcely wait for next year and hope that many of these talented artists will be invited to return.

© meche kroop

THE SUBLIME AND THE RIDICULOUS

Anthony Robin Schneider, Jarrett Ott, Matthew DiBattista, Liv Redpath, and Terrence Chin-Loy (photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera)

Liv Redpath and Amanda Majeski
(Photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera)

Richard Strauss' 1916 opera Ariadne auf Naxos offers countless delights as well as a wonderful message--comedy can overcome tragedy and love can eliminate grief and stress. The richest man in Vienna is throwing a dinner party and has commissioned an opera to entertain his guests.  Unbeknownst to the unwary young composer, he has also engaged a comedy troupe starring the flirtatious and fickle Zerbinetta. This is enough to throw the arrogant and temperamental stars of this opera seria into a frenzy of disdain and scorn.

When the Major Domo announces in the plummiest of British accents (spoken dialogue was in English) that both troupes will perform simultaneously in order to finish in time for the fireworks, the composer and singers go ballistic. It is time for the young composer to face the reality of the music business! On a happier note, he and Zerbinetta fall for one another.

The show must go on with poor Ariadne singing in Act II (now in German) about her wish to die.  Theseus has loved her and left her, abandoned on a lonely island. She longs for Mercury to come and take her to the "other side". Zerbinetta and her troupe dance and sing and try to cheer her up, to no avail. Zerbinetta even tries to talk to her woman to woman about taking new lovers. Eventually, the young god Bacchus arrives on Naxos and becomes smitten with her. In a lovely directorial touch (Tim Albery) the Composer arrives at the side of the set and appears delighted at the apparent success of his opera. He is joined by Zerbinetta and the two couples are seen embracing in tandem.

As Zerbinetta, 2017 Apprentice Singer Liv Redpath simply stunned us with her glorious coloratura and engaging stage presence. Every note and every gesture served to illuminate her delightful character. She was far more appealing than the dour Ariadne, sung by South African soprano Amanda Echalaz. Ms. Echalaz was effective in Act I as the imperious prima donna but in Act II, her performance as Ariadne lacked the beauty and color we have come to expect in this role. Tenor Bruce Sledge distinguished himself by getting through this challenging role with beauty of tone and lovely phrasing.

The other Amanda in this tale of two Amandas surprised us. We have never been a great fan of Amanda Majeski, but in the travesti role of The Composer, usually sung by a mezzo-soprano, she absolutely shone and was totally convincing in her artistic despair and in her budding romance with Zerbinetta.

Zerbinetta's troupe of commedia dell'arte players was performed with great lively style by Apprentice Artists--Jarrett Ott, Anthony Robin Schneider, Matthew DiBattista, and Terrence Chin-Loy, whose singing and dancing (!) added so much to the evening's delight.

Sarah Tucker, Samantha Gossard, and Meryl Dominguez (photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera.

Accompanying Ariadne on the isle of Naxos were three lovely ladies portraying the nymphs Echo (soprano Sarah Tucker), Najade (soprano Meryl Dominguez), and Dryade (mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard). Strauss gave them some beautiful harmonies and they gave some beautiful singing to the audience. We got to thinking about Mozart's three ladies and then about Wagner's Rheinmadchen. We can think of no greater treat than three female voices in harmony. And those gals can really sing!

Smaller roles were all well handled. Kevin Burdette's Major Domo was a study in pomposity and self-importance. Rod Gilfrey portrayed the Music Master in a piece of luxury casting. Jarrett Logan Porter played the wigmaker, so badly abused by the temperamental tenor. Brent Michael Smith was the scurrying footman and Jesse Darden played an Officer. Brenton Ryan made a fine dancing master.

Maestro James Gaffigan did a swell job with Strauss' lavish orchestration and Tim Albery directed with a sure hand. Jodi Melnick's choreography for Zerbinetta's troupe was delightfully different and done in vaudeville style with the men sporting walking sticks. Who knew those guys could dance!!!!

Set and Costume Design by Tobias Hoheisel was highly unusual. The set for Act I was realistic and accurate to the period. We were shown a corridor in the rich man's home with a series of doors to dressing rooms.  Except, in a droll turn, one of them turned out to be a broom closet. During the overture, we could see the arrival of all the artists and get a good idea of their personalities.

The set for Act II was abstract with a pair of curved architectural elements enclosing Ariadne's "cave" which was shaped like a shallow bowl colored red. Thomas C. Hase's lighting design worked its magic.

Ariadne wore a long black dress, suited to her grief.  Zerbinetta and her troupe were not costumed in traditional commedia dell'arte garb but sported garments suited to the early 20th c. Zerbinetta herself looked like a model for Poiret.

We cannot close without mentioning our thought that Strauss often worked through his personal issues through his operas. In this case, he and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal almost came to blows as they worked out the necessary compromises to get this opera on the page and on the stage. Could we not notice similar attempts at working through issues in his Capriccio and in his Intermezzo?  In these cases, art surely imitates life!

(c) meche kroop

FINAL OFFERING FROM SANTA FE

Corrie Stallings, Simon Dyer, and Kara Morgan in scene from Domenico Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto at Santa Fe Opera (photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

We've been back from Santa Fe for a week now and the arrival of photos from the second evening of scenes presented by the apprentices served to bring back so many happy memories of an outstanding evening at Santa Fe Opera.  It will be a year until we return and return we will!

As usual, the group of apprentices were astutely selected, and a most interesting selection of scenes were chosen to highlight their individual talents. Certain scenes stood out for their effectiveness. We loved the scene from Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier in which Octavian presents the silver rose to Sophie (the wonderful soprano Liv Redpath) who is engaged to his boorish cousin Baron Ochs (not present in this scene).

What blew us away was the completely believable performance of mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard who not only sang magnificently but was totally convincing in her portrayal of a 17-year-old aristocratic youth--confident almost to the point of entitlement, but touched by Sophie's innocence.  Imagine our shock when we met Ms. Gossett offstage and perceived her overwhelming femininity. Now that's acting!

Sophie's father Herr Von Faninal was portrayed by baritone Kenneth Stavert with tenor Eric Ferring as the Haushofmeister and soprano Sarah Tucker as Marianne.

Readers are well aware how fond we are of zarzuela and the scene from Pablo Sorozabal's La Tabernera del Puerto was presented in exemplary fashion by lovely soprano Meryl Dominguez as Marola, a woman of questionable virtue, and tenor Rafael Moras singing his heart out as the sailor Leandro, in the well-known aria "No puede ser". His commitment to the role was total and the audience responded with wild applause. This just made us want to see the zarzuela in toto and we continue to believe there is an audience for zarzuela here in New York.

Casting an even wider net was the choice of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.  Perhaps the composer does not think of this work as an opera but we have always considered it as such and the sensational casting convinced us that we are right. Bass James Harrington made a fine Judge Turpin discussing his plans for his ward Johanna (lovely soprano Andrea Lett) with the Beadle, sung by the always terrific tenor Adam Bonanni who tells him he needs a trip to the barber. Hehehe.

Meanwhile Johanna is frolicking with her young man Anthony, finely portrayed by the superb baritone Brian Vu, on the other side of the stage. Director Kathleen Clawson did her usual excellent work in highlighting the contrast of innocence and evil.

The photo used for this review was taken from a scene from Cimaroso's Il matrimonio segreto, a delightful comic opera of the classical period, the characters of which seem derived from commedia dell'arte. Carolina (super soprano Adelaide Boedecker) has eloped with her lover Paolina (fine tenor Paul Han) and is hiding from her father Il Signor Geronimo, enacted by bass-baritone Simon Dyer, who blusters beautifully.

Mezzo-soprano Corrie Stallings stood out as the envious sister Elisetta, not only for her fine singing but for her hilarious comic timing. Mezzo Kara Morgan sang the role of Aunt Fidalma with the handsome bass-baritone Erik Van Heyningen just right in the role of Il Conte Robinson who seems to be willing to marry either sister. The entire cast worked well together with directorial credit going again to Ms. Clawson who impresses us every summer.

Crystal Manich also had two scenes to direct. We loved the scene from Massenet's Werther in which the married Charlotte, movingly portrayed by mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit, must confront her feelings toward the eponymous Werther, sung by tenor Richard Smagur. Both artists were in admirable control of their vocal artistry and their dramatic intention. We believed every minute, in spite of being distracted by Werther's weird costume of unflattering and seemingly inappropriate short pants.

Ms. Manich's other scene was from Puccini's Edgar.  It was well performed by mezzo-soprano Morgan Middleton with tenor Peter Scott Drackley as the titular Edgar and baritone Thaddeus Ennen fine as his friend Frank. This is an early effort by Puccini and we can understand why it has not joined the canon.

A scene from Verdi's Falstaff was light-hearted and lively with all four women having great fun as they compare letters from the lecherous knight. Ms. Tucker was Alice Ford with soprano Joanna Latini as her daughter Nannetta. Meg Page was sung by mezzo-soprano Pascale Spinney and mezzo Mariya Kaganskaya as Mistress Quickly. Omer Ben Seadia's direction was on point but Katie Dennis' costuming was peculiar.

Finally, we had a scene from Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, featuring splendid soprano Jessica Jones as Anne Truelove and Mr. Harrington as her father. Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy portrayed the slacker Tom Rakewell who left plenty of room in his life for the seductive Nick Shadow, given an excellent reading by bass-baritone Tyler Zimmerman.

We always enjoy watching these highly talented emerging artists take the stage in major roles--even more than watching them onstage in major productions where they are given smaller roles. The Sunday night Apprentice Recitals give them their chance to shine and shine they did!

(c) meche kroop