WE GOT WHAT WE VOTED FOR!

Melanie Ashkar, Jeremy Moore, Milica Nikcevic, Noelle Currie, Eric Alexieff, and Megan Nielson

We are happy knowing that we were among those fans of Utopia Opera who voted for Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. For those of you readers who don't know, Utopia Opera is unique in producing their season by audience vote. This is Utopia Opera's sixth season and it has been a glorious one with the final entry giving us a unique up front and personal view of a long-cherished opera which premiered in Moscow in 1879.

We love this opera because it gives us a glimpse of a highly structured society, one from long ago (1820) and far away (Russia). Nonetheless, we are seeing human nature as it is and always has been--just constrained by the mores of that time and place. We all can recall the naivete with which we approached our first love. We all know people whose pride gets in the way of self-fulfillment. We all have broken off friendships for trivial reasons.  We have all known the pain of jealousy when our beloved has put someone else ahead of us.

But this is not a "whatever" society; this is a society in which "honor" is taken seriously and revenge is serious and often fatal.. "Feeling pissy" and "walking away" are modern inventions. Tatiana falls hard for her sister's fiance's friend. Onegin is a city slicker and she is a country mouse. She overcomes her shame and shyness and bares her soul in a letter to him. He gives her a "Dutch uncle" speech in response.  Not brutal but honest.

At her name-day party, the eponymous Onegin flirts with sister Olga.  Her fiance Lensky takes offense and challenges Onegin to a duel.  Lensky is shot and dies.  Onegin lives an empty sad life for a few years until he runs into Tatiana once more. She is now wed to the elderly Prince Gremin and rejects Onegin whom she still loves.  How old-fashioned to put honor ahead of love!

Of course, Alexander Pushkin's verse novel offers a great deal more elaboration but we will concern ourself with the opera as it is performed. As testament to the power of the story we offer our personal experience of fretting over what happens to poor Olga and whether Tatiana might reconsider when Gremin dies!

As testament to the power of Tchaikovsky's music we confess that we are still playing the themes in our head!  In this case, Jonathan Lyness' orchestral reduction was performed by 11 musicians under the baton of Dmitry Glivinskiy who brought out every ounce of Russian soul in the string quartet which sat at audience level, with the wind instruments and keyboard on one side of the raised stage. Aside from an occasional pitch problem in the strings, the music sounded just fine.

The singing was good all around with soprano Megan Nielson making a winsome Tatiana and Melanie Ashkar using her lustrous mezzo-soprano and spirited dramatic instincts to create a very believable feckless younger sister Olga. Jeremy Moore used his mellow baritone to create an Onegin who seemed to represent a more modern sophisticated fellow rather than the arrogant selfish fellow of the Pushkin poem. We favor this interpretation because he must have some good qualities to win the affection of the sensitive Tatiana. And because we have good feelings about men who do not deceive women!

As the poet Lensky, tenor Chris Georgetti gave his all and elicited audience sympathy with a finely wrought "Kuda, kuda". How interesting that the most famous aria from this opera, heard often at competitions, was not given to the "hero". Tatiana's "letter scene" is equally famous but rather long and not as often performed.  (Coincidentally, we just heard  and reviewed it the previous night.) We thought Ms. Nielson sang it very well with many shades of coloration.

Milica Nikcevic was fine as Madame Larina, as was Noelle Currie in the role of the nanny Filippyevna, although looking much too young to be a grandmother. Steven Fredericks had the right voice (bass) and appearance to create the dignified Prince Gremin who has been rejuvenated by his young wife. Indeed Tatiana has by the end of the opera matured into her station in life and Ms. Nielson conveyed that vocally and dramatically.

Finally, let us mention tenor Eric Alexieff whose performance as Monsieur Triquet was very fine without indulging in any over-the-top foppery. One of the highlights of Benjamin Spierman's direction was that very scene in which his musical encomium to Tatiana resulted in her embarrassment and some tolerant eye-rolling among the assembled guests.

There were some other enjoyable touches in the direction of the second act including the flirtation between Olga and Onegin, the confrontation between Onegin and Lensky, and Lensky's aria in which he kneels down on the ground when thinking about the possibility of going to his grave.  If Mr. Spierman was responsible for the choreography of the country ball and the city ball, props to him for that as well.

The direction of Act I was not quite as interesting. There is a very special moment when Filippyevna teases Tatiana by pretending to not know which neighbor was going to be the recipient of her letter. By playing it straight, an opportunity was missed to tell us something about their relationship. We also didn't get much of a sense of the comradeship between Filippyevna and Madame Larina.  We did, however, get the warmth of the relationship between the two sisters.

The only major flaw in the production must be attributed to the costuming. We do not expect authentic period attire in a low budget production but we could think of ways to suggest an earlier time period that would have worked well.  Jeans and shirts just seemed wrong. We don't know a woman who doesn't possess a peasant style blouse and a long skirt!  Anything would have been better than the "just walked in off the street" attire. In the ballroom scene of Act II, all the women wore long gowns and that seemed much better.

It also struck us as wrong that Filippyevna looked more glamorous than Madame Larina.

Cutting the large chorus of serfs permitted the work to be performed in just over a couple hours. We were very impressed by the talent of the cast and how effectively the tale was told. We will see this opera over and over again but we doubt whether we will have the same feeling of intimacy with the characters as we did through Utopia Opera.

There is one more performance tonight at Hunter College at 7:30 and we strongly recommend it!

(c) meche kroop

ADULTERY, BETRAYAL, AND MURDER

Ta'u Pupu'a and Michelle Trovato as Canio and Nedda in Pagliacci

Last night we heard a pair of old chestnuts roasted into new life by Martha Cardona Opera. We cannot recall being as deeply affected by other productions of this pair of verismo operas--known as Cav and Pag. There is something about being up close and personal that provides dramatic and vocal thrills, as long as the voices are good.  And the voices we heard last night were WAY beyond good.  They were GREAT! Artistic Director Daniel Cardona has a knack for finding artists with big voices and casting them appropriately.

With such superb artistry onstage and an excellent orchestra, we are content to sacrifice elaborate costuming and sets. Let us give credit to Maestro Gregory Buchalter for developing the orchestral skills of his fine musicians and guiding them through an intense performance. We particularly enjoyed the contributions of the uncredited harpist, the flute, and the cellos. The drinking song of Cavalleria Rusticana was accompanied by some fine pizzicato in the string section, setting us up for the tragedy to come.

Let us also give credit to Chorus Master William Hicks for providing crisp clean choral singing. And finally, let us credit David O. Roberts for his Costume Design. We know the budget for costumes was small but Mr. Roberts always makes much out of little and what he provided was effective.

Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana is usually paired with Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. The former takes place in a small town in Sicily in the 19th c. and the latter takes place in a small town in Calabria in the 1860's.  Both deal with Old World passions and morality. In our "whatever" generation, it seems strange that people killed each other out of sexual jealousy--but they still do, as one can see in the daily newspapers!

It likewise seems strange that women who violated codes of sexual morality would become societal outcasts; but one must look no further than the Middle-East for daily examples of honor killings, which is far worse. Only in a free society can women enjoy their sexual freedom. Let us not take that for granted.

Since we gave a lengthy review of Cardona's production of Mascagni's masterpiece exactly one month ago (review is archived and available through the search bar), let us just mention the performances of new cast members, before moving on to Pagliacci.

Soprano Cheryl Warfield's emotional intensity and ample tone made for a fine performance as Santuzza, the woman seduced and abandoned by Turridu, sung by Ta'u Pupu'a who was sensational last month and has only grown in the role, which he will be performing with Cedar Rapids Opera next month.

Taking over the role of Mama Lucia was mezzo-soprano Milica Nikcevic whom we first reviewed three years ago at Dell'Arte Opera. It is exciting to witness the development of a substantial voice like hers. She created a character who was sympathetic to Santuzza but, appropriately, far more concerned with her son who misbehaved with a married woman.

Baritone SeungHyeon Baek reprised his role as Alfio, the betrayed husband and he has truly made the role his own. We could not imagine a better performance.

Natalie Rose Havens appeared once more as the seductive Lola who wants to have her cake and eat it too. She deceives her husband but acts holier-than-thou toward Santuzza. 

The libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti is a powerful one, adapted from a short story by Giovanni Verga. The storytelling is concise and powerful, keeping one on the edge of one's seat. The tragedy is foreshadowed as the opera begins by the mention of blood over Lola's door.

The tragedy of Pagliacci is also foreshadowed, when Canio tells the villagers that he would not tolerate advances of other men toward his wife Nedda, whom he had rescued from near starvation. Leoncavallo wrote both libretto and music. In this opera, life imitates art and commedia del'arte is anything but a comedy.

A visiting troupe of performers include the leader Canio (who portrays Pagliaccio in their performance), his unhappy wife Nedda (who portrays Colombina onstage), the envious and deformed Tonio who lusts after Nedda and seeks revenge when she rejects him (playing the servant Taddeo in the performance), and the clown Beppe, (who portrays Arlecchino in the performance).

Nedda's real life innamorato is Silvio, who wants Nedda to elope with him. When the actions of the commedia performance take an ugly turn, Silvio is drawn into the action and tragedy ensues.

The singers were all splendid. Mr. Pupu'a reappeared as Canio and utilized his powerful tenor in the anguished "Vesti la giubba", generating sympathy for the character--even as we know he will lose it in front of the audience when he forgets he is acting in a play. 

Michelle Trovato used her amply proportioned soprano to portray Nedda. Her yearning for the freedom that birds enjoy in "Stridono lassu" was touching and her ambivalence about leaving Canio for Silvio could break one's heart. We greatly enjoyed her commedia-style acting as Colombina.

SeungHyeon Baek was perfect as the vengeful Tonio--so different from the upstanding character he portrayed in Cavalleria Rusticana. We have been writing about Mr. Baek for a couple of years and have enjoyed witnessing his artistic growth.

Baritone Colin Levin made a fine Silvio but the big surprise of the evening was Mexican tenor Humberto Borboa who stepped into the role of Beppe on short notice and wowed the audience with his portrayal. He has a lovely timbre to his voice and delivered Arlecchino's melodic serenade to generous audience applause.

Martha Cardona Opera has come a long way since we began writing about them and there are great plans for the future in terms of a full production with sets. We are watching out for their Hansel und Gretel in the Spring, which will be performed both in German and in English.  Regular readers won't have to guess which one we will choose to attend!

The company has achieved 501-C3 status as a non-profit and would welcome your contributions of whatever size or type.  www.marthacardonaopera.com. Christmas presents are particularly invited. Spare your sister that ugly sweater and spare your brother that unwearable tie! Make a donation instead to support the art form you love! And get a deduction on your taxes as a bonus.

(c) meche kroop

THAT SCOTTISH OPERA

Mary Ann Stewart as Lady Macbeth (photo by Brian Long)

Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's "Summer of Shakespeare" is providing an oasis of opera for thirsty opera-lovers in the midst of summer's desert.  We have only good things to say about the production of Verdi's Macbeth which was given some admirable direction by Myra Cordell.  We favor the traditional and Ms. Cordell hewed closely to period, place and dramatic intent.  (The last Macbeth we saw at the Met involved some peculiar artistic choices so we were especially pleased with this production.)  One coup de theatre that we appreciated -- when Banco is murdered, his body is left on the floor, only to rise as his ghost in the banquet scene.

Musical value were excellent all around.  Maestro Christopher Fecteau marshaled the forces of his twenty excellent musicians and from the very first oboe solo we knew that they and we were in good hands.  The strings were situated to our left and the winds and percussion at the rear of the playing area, leading to a most interesting stereophonic effect.  We particularly liked Ellen Hindson's English Horn; Barbara Allen made some interesting sounds for the witches sabbath.

Mary Ann Stewart, a winner of the Osgood/Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble prize. just about stole the show with her riveting performance as Lady Macbeth.  Her sizable soprano was used effectively with notable skill in the coloratura embellishments that lingered from Verdi's bel canto predecessors.  Moreover, her acting was first-rate as she rotated through encouragement, importuning, shaming and manipulation to get Macbeth to do her bidding. Her "Vieni! t'affretta" in Act I was a real show-stopper.

As the eponymous (anti)hero, tenor Jason Plourde was equally convincing as the weak Thane who becomes greedy for power at the behest of his wife.  One could almost feel sorry for him as he was seduced by the predictions of the witches.

The three witches were outstanding. Soprano Monica Niemi's voice rang out in clarion tones with mezzo-sopranos Elizabeth Bouk and Jackie Hayes in fine collaboration.

We are always delighted to hear new voices in small roles that we hope to hear more of in the future.  Tenor Marques Hollie sounded just grand as Malcolm; we noticed his beautiful sound earlier in the evening as part of the ensemble.  Isaac Assor, reviewed twice before at the Manhattan School of Music Summer Voice Festival, also stood out with his fine full sound.

Milica Nikcevic always gets our attention; she won the Osgood/dell'Arte Opera Ensemble prize in 2013.  And bass Hans Tashjian excelled as Banco, sounding better than ever.

With minimal resources, Nina Bova created costumes that were simple but effective.  The three "weird sisters" wore tattered capes over tights and sported wild hair and gruesome makeup.  The men wore sashes of their respective clans and Lady Macbeth a long dun-colored dress with impressive jewelry around her neck.

Karen Tashjian's simple scenic design comprised a low platform upstage, flanked by slender tree trunks.  Lighting designer Scott Schneider cleverly produced a cauldron substitute into which the three witches could throw their nasty bits.

There will be two more performances on 8/22 and 8/24.  We hope there will still be a couple seats available.

(c) meche kroop