MASTER(FUL) VOICES

Soprano Mikaela Bennett, Maestro Ted Sperling, and Baritone Justin Austin

The MasterVoices Chorus and the Orchestra of Saint Luke's

(Photo by Erin Baiano)

It was an unusual evening and one that was very well received by a huge crowd of fans filling up Alice Tully Hall.  Recent renovations put a pipe organ on display with Orchestra of St. Luke's organist Matthew Lewis having the time of his life.  Other members of OSL included a sole violin among a generous string section, and winds comprising a pair of bassoons, a pair of horns, a pair of percussionists and (our favorite) an angelic harp.

Our overall impression of Fauré's Requiem in D Minor is that it is a kinder gentler work than other requiems we have heard. The "wrath of God" and dire warnings are absent and it seems more a lullaby sending the departed off to a restful repose. It was indeed performed at Fauré's death and we hope he is enjoying a richly deserved peaceful sleep!

The composer began work on the piece in 1888 and revised it several times until 1900. We lack the knowledge to identify which version we heard but it was a satisfying one with the massive voices of MasterVoices singing the seven movements, ending with Fauré's unique "In Paradisum" sending the departed one off to paradise. The orchestration gave lots of attention to the horns which blared in as stentorian fashion as trumpets. However, we were most taken with the harp, played by the appropriately named Grace Paradise!

Strangely, Fauré gave the vocal soloists little to do and, since we are great fans of soprano Mikaela Bennett and baritone Justin Austin, we felt a bit disappointed to see them sitting there for a half hour with only small parts.

The second piece on the program made up for that, giving the two artists some interesting and challenging texts which were unfortunately amplified to the point of muddying the clever words. Far be it from us to sit and read from the program during a performance; we wished that titles had been projected. Upon returning home we read the libretto and realized what we had missed.

Maestro Ted Sperling came up with the incredibly clever idea for Seven: a Cycle of Sins,  putting the seven deadly sins up for grabs, so to speak, allowing a herd of contemporary composers to "choose their own sin". Each one contributed something in his own voice. Most notable (if only because we were very recently introduced to his music) was the "Envy" of Jason Robert Brown. Voices overlapped in a manner reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim. Mr. Brown's comments pointedly referred to his failure to achieve entrance into Juilliard and he did so in the wittiest fashion.

On the other hand Ted Hearne's gloss on "Greed" employed a boring political text relating to the Occupy Movement. This reminded us of the contemporary operas we dismiss as polemic.

Michael Abels illustrated "Lust" with a brief recreation of lovemaking sounds culminating in orgasm. This was so direct that it may well have achieved the status of audience favorite. "Love to Love You Baby", recorded by Donna Summer and released in 1975, accomplished great popularity but was banned by several radio stations. Apparently "classical music" performed in a concert hall can get away with things that popular recordings cannot.

The superb composer Gregory Spears took the easy way out and illustrated the sin of "Vanity" with a lengthy quote from Ecclesiastes. Heather Christian's take on "Wrath" used similarly wordy text.

Composer/lyricist team of William C. Banfield and Michael R. Jackson got philosophical about politics in "Sloth", perhaps a too heavy a burden with its wordy unsingable argument. The team of Will Aronson and Dolan Morgan undertook to illustrate "Gluttony" by an argument between "Everything in the World" and "People", another wordy discussion.

There is an eighth deadly sin folks, and no one ever speaks about it. That is the sin of "Acedia"--apathy and despondency--whih seems to be afflicting our culture today. Who wants to write a song about it?

You may have gathered by now, Dear Reader, that we vote for "Lust". It was short, sweet, and direct. Lyrics that are wordy and deep, in our opinion, belong on the printed page. 

That being said, Sperling's idea was an interesting one; giving composers carte blanche led to some curious offerings. When someone brings up The Seven Deadly Sins, we will no longer be thinking of the Kurt Weill opera/ballet but we will be thinking of Sterling's commission. Will it be performed again? Will it become part of the vocal canon? What do you think Dear Reader?

© meche kroop

 

LADY IN THE DARK SHINES ITS LIGHT ON NEW YORK

Amy Irving and Victoria Clark (photo by Richard Termine)

Guest review by Ellen Godfrey:

Lady in the Dark achieved legendary status from the day it opened in New York City in 1941, where it ran for 491 performances. The musical made stars of the already well known Gertrude Lawrence, who’s picture was featured on the cover of Time magazine, and a young comic actor named Danny Kaye, who’s tongue twister of the song “Tchaikowsky" made him an instant star.  The creative team for the show were already giants in the field of theatre and music. Lady in the Dark was a ground-breaking work due to the unusual plot and the rich score. It was a bridge between the more light hearted and less sophisticated musicals preceding it and the more serious integrated musicals that followed.

The original idea for the dramatic musical show, involving psychoanalysis, was developed by Moss Hart, whom for many years had sought relief from his own depression and insomnia through psychoanalysis.  (His granddaughter  performed the small role of Barbara in the show).  Ira Gershwin wrote the extraordinary lyrics on his return to Broadway after the death of his composer brother George. 

The music was composed by the great Kurt Weill, who fled Germany in 1935 with his wife, the legendary cabaret singer Lotte Lenya. His 1938 musical Knickerbocker Holiday had a short run in New York, but introduced the “September Song” to America and the world. His first big Broadway hit was Lady in the Dark, which opened in 1941. Despite its great success, it was never revived for Broadway until Encores presented it to inaugurate the opening of their first Encore’s season in 1994.  It was made into a movie in the 1940’s.  

Weill wrote several other musicals including Street Scene, and One Touch of Venus  (starring Mary Martin).  He also composed some songs for movies and some orchestral music as well.  He died in 1950.

We owe great thanks to Ted Sperling, for bringing this wonderful work back to New York, along with his Masters’ Voices Chorus ,for three semi-staged performances. Mr. Sperling fell in love with this show when he was in college and was happy to present these performances as part of New York City Center’s 75th anniversary.

Before going any further, let me say that both Victoria Clark as Liza Elliot and David Pittu, as Russel Paxton were  terrific in their roles.  Tony Award winner Victoria Clark has brought her theatrical and vocal art to twelve Broadway musicals. With her ravishing voice and fine acting she was a perfect Liza Elliot.  David Pittu, who played the magazine’s photographer and the ringmaster in the circus dream, was charged with getting out all 50 Russian composers’ names in 35 seconds for the Tschaikowsky song and was appropriately applauded for his work.

The story of Lady in the Dark, involves a very successful and driven female fashion executive of a magazine called Allure, who decided to be  psychoanalyzed in order to conquer the fears and demons from her childhood.  The structure of the show is very original.  It is divided into three 20 minute acts, each with a different dream surrounded by pure play structure. We hear a bit of the song “My Ship” when we are first introduced to Liza at the beginning of the first act and this song is woven like a Wagnerian motive throughout the whole musical. At the end of the play, her psychiatrist has finally helped her to figure out why she was so disturbed. Suddenly all of the words of “My Ship,” come to her and she is finally at peace with herself.

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“My Ship,” it is one of the most well-known and beloved songs of the musical and is sung quietly and hauntingly by Victoria Clark.  The other two popular songs are “The Saga of Jenny,” who couldn’t make up her mind, sung in a jaunty manner by Victoria Clark and the Tschaikowsky song. These three songs occur one after the other at the end of the musical .

Kurt Weill was a composer who could write in many styles. He was trained in his native Germany as a classical musician but he decided to write popular music to appeal to the people.  Throughout this musical there is a variety of musical styles; bolero, cabaret, romantic, fox trots, catchy tunes and music that points back to the Weimar Republic.

The show was performed as a semi-staged concert.  Ted Sperling led a dramatic and beautiful reading of the score. The great Orchestra of St. Lukes, one of America’s most distinguished orchestras, played the complicated score to perfection. The wonderful 120 person Master Singers were on bleachers in the rear of the stage. In addition to their glorious singing, they also were always in character.

The stage area was small and with only a few props…a lamp, a sofa, a desk, and a chair, Doug Fitch, the director of the show, was able to create the right atmosphere for each for the three dream acts.  The choreographer, Doug Varone, choreographed a series of dances for each of the three dream sequences, making great use of the small areas of the stages.  The dancers whirled around in circles or groups and gave energized performances.

In the musical, Liza  Elliott is a fashion executive so Ted Sperling and his Costume Designer Tracey Christensen decided to go to fashion designers to create high fashion outfits. Hamish Bowles, Vogue’s international editor at large, helped introduce them to appropriate designers for the dream sequences. For the Glamour dream sequence, Zac Posen designed outfits for Victoria Clark and the female dancers; for the Wedding dream sequence the Bridal gown was designed  by Marchesa, and for the Circus dream, Thorn Browne designed outfits  for the  principal actors and the jury. 

The actors were an excellent ensemble of Broadway theatre professionals. Many of them also worked in television and movies. Amy Irving, played a very sympathetic psychoanalyst and the scenes between her and Victoria Clark seemed real. Ashley Park, as Miss Foster, made her a very efficient secretary and helper for Liza. Ron Davis played up the self importance of the Hollywood star Randy Curtis. Christopher Innvar was excellent in his portrayal of Charley Johnson whom Liza found annoying at first, but by the end of the musical realized his kindness.  Ron Raines was patient as the character Kendall Nesbitt who was Liza’s boyfriend, even though he was already married. He was wonderful in the scene where, in a trial, he has to give evidence of her inability to change her mind and expresses his sadness and surprise when Liza decided she didn’t want to marry him. 

There was great applause at the end of the show from the very appreciative audience. Hopefully, we will not have to wait another 25 years for its return to Broadway.

(c) meche kroop

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S AT CARNEGIE HALL

Krista Bennion Feeney, Ying Fang, and Maestro Bernard Labadie

As a long time worshipful fan of soprano Ying Fang, there was no way we were going to miss her performance with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. To discuss her performance of Mozart's concert aria "Non temer, amato bene" without putting it in the context of such a wonderful program would be rather monomaniacal.

Unlike programs that try to put in something for everyone, last night's program at Carnegie Hall stayed firmly in the 18th c., giving us plenty to think about in terms of how the compositional line evolved from Haydn to Mozart to Beethoven. We realized that the line between Classical music and Romantic music was not all that strict and Haydn could actually be thought of as proto-Romantic.

The overture to his 1779 opera L'isola disabitata which opened the program was filled with dramatic shifts in dynamics, tempo and mood. The opera is rarely performed but the overture makes a fine curtain raiser.

His 1772 Symphony No. 45 in the unusual key of F# minor seemed a departure from what we think of as Classical; it is filled with tempestuous moments and a depth of feeling that is somewhat foreign to the period of The Enlightenment with its rationality and symmetry.

The reason it is called "the Farewell symphony" is related to its origins. Anyone who didn't know the story might have been shocked to observe the musicians packing up and walking out, one by one, during the final movement. Even Maestro Labadie abandoned his podium until only two violinists remained to end the symphony on a quiet note.

The origin of this amusing device had to do with Haydn sending a musical message to his employer Prince Nicholas I who expected the musicians to stay on the Esterházy estate and delay their winter vacation to suit his whims. The musicians asked Haydn for some help and his response was to come up with this crazy idea for a symphony. Apparently, Prince Nicholas got the point and let the musicians depart. We had a lot of fun contemplating some present day employment situations that could be handled with such tact and humor!

The young Mozart composed his opera Idomeneo not long after but added the Rondo aria "Non temer, amato bene", sung by Idamante to the captured Princess Ilia, in 1786. The music begins with a simple but affecting melody but grows in power with each iteration. There are long and lovely legato lines giving Ms. Fang an opportunity to sing melismas of astonishing beauty. And there is anger at fate, offering opportunities for vocal fireworks. This would seem to be analogous to a cabaletta. Concertmaster Krista Bennion Feeney provided the violin obbligato. It was a stunning duet.

Shortly thereafter, Beethoven composed his Piano Concerto #2 in B-flat Major;  one could hear the influences of Haydn and Mozart while acknowledging Beethoven's special flair for the dramatic. We could not imagine a better performance than the one we heard by Beethoven specialist Jonathan Biss. The work opens with some downward moving arpeggi and a graceful second theme which set the mood for the entrance of the piano. 

Mr. Biss' nimble fingers flew over the keys and his performance was especially riveting when the orchestra fell silent whilst he tore into Beethoven's music. There were other surprises and the Allegro movement ended abruptly. We are not even sure we heard a recapitulation of the opening themes. We also missed the musical "joke" of the piano making an entrance in an "off" key. We would need further study to truly appreciate those subtleties. However no one could miss the shifts into the minor key, a device we always enjoyed in Mozart's operas.

It was a splendid evening and we have nothing but admiration for Maestro Labadie's conducting. He eschews the baton and uses his hands most expressively, eliciting gorgeous performances from his musicians. Bravi tutti!

(c) meche kroop

ORPHIC MOMENTS

Anthony Ross Costanzo, Bobbi Jene Smith, and Keir GoGwilt (photo by Erin Baiano)

Christoph Willibald Gluck wrote his glorious version of the Orpheus myth--Orfeo ed Euridice-- in 1762.  Last night at the Rose Theater, we saw the piece, magnificently sung by countertenor Anthony Ross Costanzo in the title role, with soprano Kiera Duffy as Orpheus' beloved Euridice, and soprano Lauren Snouffer as the god Amor. The vocalism could not have been better, nor the acting. The 130 voices of Ted Sperling's Master Voices brought the many choral numbers to vivid life. The Orchestra of St. Luke's was perfectly wonderful in evoking the subtleties of Gluck's music.

There we were, feeling the pain of losing someone dear, half lost in the music, half reveling in the sound of Italian, so well sung that we scarcely needed to look at Cori Ellison's excellent titles. Mr. Costanzo painted the perfect portrait of a man bereft, half crazed by grief. The adorable Ms. Snouffer entered and offered him the hope of rescuing Euridice from Hades. (As a god, Amor knows of Orpheus' great talent as a singer. He will use this talent to save her.) 

We were experiencing his struggle confronting the Furies and doomed souls of Hades, so well staged by Movement Director Julia Eichten who ensured that the singers onstage all looked like dancers. We felt his joy in finding Euridice.  We felt the annoyance that Euridice was mistrustful of Orpheus and were so involved we had to restrain ourself from calling out to her "Shut up and follow him".

And then, as abruptly as any pleasure interruptus, the music turned irritating, the vocal line became unmusical, and the words became incomprehensible. This was composer Matthew Aucoin's interpolation of the Orphic Moment--his imagining of what went on inside the brain of our hero as Euridice gets into her "You don't really love me" mode.  

We never read the program notes until after we have experienced a performance because we want a work to speak for itself.  If it requires explanation and exegesis, the work has failed. What Mr. Aucoin said he was thinking about was that Orpheus is such an aesthete that he needed more tragedy of which to sing more gorgeously. At least, that's how we understand what he wrote.

Well, perhaps if there had been titles for the English text, we might have gotten something out of it beside the irritation of trying so hard to understand the words. We canvassed the audience members nearby and a dozen people in the elevator to see if anyone had heard enough text to tell us but not a single soul had understood. That's just a problem of singing inEnglish.  Titles should always be provided.

But we don't think anything could have gotten us to enjoy the music. Perhaps there were some gods in the audience who would have allowed Orpheus to keep his reputation as the champion singer of all time but we would have revoked the award on the spot.

Sometimes we appreciate a fresh take on an old work but when our ears perform the aural equivalent of eyes glazing over, this is not going to happen.

The Orphic Moment episode, which involved modern dancer Bobbi Jene Smith and solo violinist Keir GoGwilt, seemed interminable but finally things got back to normal for Orfeo's famous aria--"Che faro senza Euridice" with its gorgeous melody. Mr. Costanzo invested it with all the requisite feeling, achieving artistry through the skills of word coloration and dynamic variation. His messa di voce almost made up for the prior alienation we felt.

Ted Sperling's conducting was as excellent as we expected and Zack Winokur's direction was fine, especially in the opening scene which is a wedding celebration turned funeral ode when Euridice gets bitten by a snake.

Stacey Berman's costumes were simple and, for some unknown reason, everyone was barefoot. The next time we attend a wedding in a garden, we will make sure to wear shoes, lest we get bitten by a serpent!

Douglas Fitch's set was simple--the banquet table became a slab for the dead bride, but was later hoisted into the flies, dangling there ominously in view of the audience.

We understand that this creation was a joint work of Mr. Costanzo and Mr. Aucoin and has been seen at National Sawdust and the Salzburg State Theater. We wish them well but in our opinion, Gluck's masterpiece did not ask to be "improved" by anyone else's concept.

We will try to remember the evening with the interpolation excised, focusing on the musical glories of three excellent singers, the splendid Orchestra of St. Luke's,  and the massive forces of Master Voices.

(c) meche kroop

CANDIDE-LY SPEAKING

The cast of Leonard Bernstein's Candide onstage at Carnegie Hall

In celebration of the Bernstein Centennial, Carnegie Hall presented a one-night benefit performance of Candide, with Rob Fisher conducting the huge orchestral forces of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and the enormous Mansfield University Concert Choir, all onstage.

Let us avoid any discussion of whether this charming work is an opera or a musical comedy. No matter how many times we have seen the work, nor in whatever venue, we have always enjoyed it and walked out humming numbers from Bernstein's tuneful score. 

The work is an enduring one, and an endearing one, and its arias have appeared on countless recitals, especially "Glitter and Be Gay", a favorite of coloratura sopranos. The work seems to be critic-proof and, in spite of it's initial cool reception, continues to appear in various iterations, each worthy on its own terms.

The concert version we saw last night at Carnegie Hall was new to us, since our prior experiences have been with the Harold Prince version. This one was Bernstein's final intention, realized and recorded shortly before his death in 1989. What a thrill to hear songs we hadn't heard before and to see scenes we hadn't previously seen. We are reminded that opera composers of the 19th c. also revised their operas many times such that a definitive performing version can be negotiable.

Not only do we love the music but we adore the book by Hugh Wheeler, which touches upon so many serious themes, beneath a comic facade.
In this story of innocence betrayed and reality accepted, we are exposed to countless trials and tribulations; we witness the heroes of the story pursuing their ideals and surviving their hardships. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the public has such affection for the work.

The literary work upon which it is based is Voltaire's 1759 novella, a satiric attack on war, religious persecution, and the positivist philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who claimed that whatever happens in this world is divinely ordered and for the best.

What we didn't know was that one of the episodes is based upon true events. In Lisbon, the horrendous death toll of an earthquake resulted in religious persecutions meant to "appease God". Well!  If that doesn't sound like some contemporary stuff going on in the Middle East we will eat the score for breakfast!

If anyone doesn't know the story, it involves the picaresque adventures of an innocent youth named Candide and his beloved Cousin Cunegonde who were tutored by one Dr. Pangloss, a stand-in for Leibniz. The two survive the horrors of war, shipwrecks, deceits and betrayals, as well as the aforementioned auto-da-fe;  they get continually separated and reunited more than once until at the end they decide to have a quiet life with modest pleasures.

One couldn't ask for a better Candide than tenor Paul Appleby, about whom we have written since his student days at Juilliard. No opera or concert appearance or award gala performance has failed to impress us artistically or to touch us emotionally. With the ensuing years he has grow as an artist but has not lost the sweet freshness of his tenor. Once again, last night, he touched our heart as his innocence kept him afloat from one disaster to the next.

He was particularly memorable in his ballads "Life is Happiness Indeed" and in his lament in Scene 2. His duet with Cunegonde "You Were Dead, You Know" was a knockout.

As Cunegonde, the brilliant soprano Erin Morley, another favorite of ours, turned in a landmark performance. Repeated hearings has never dulled the sharp character delineation created in "Glitter and Be Gay" which shows Cunegonde's ambivalence about her stint in a brothel, being patronized on alternate days by an Archbishop (Len Cariou) and Don Issachar the Jew (Danny Burstein)--a scene that drove the audience wild. 

The poor girl laments the loss of her honor but revels in the pleasures of the jewels showered upon her. We think of Marguerite's "Jewel Song" in Gounod's Faust. Another highlight of the evening was her duet with Patricia Racette-- "We Are Women", a number we had not heard before.

It was difficult to imagine Patricia Racette in the role of The Old Woman because she is far too young and attractive. Nonetheless, she employed a "high Middle Polish" accent and appropriate gestures that made her performance convincing. Her version of "I Am Easily Assimilated" always tickles us.

Making a brief appearance in a wheelchair was legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne in a speaking role as the Queen of Eldorado. We loved her line--"We have no lawyers or courts here; no one is angry."

In a bit of luxury casting we heard William Burden's fine tenor as the lustful Governor of Buenos Aires. Glenn Seven Allen, Kyle Pfortmiller, and Ross Benoliel made a fine trio in "Auto-da-fe".

Other roles were assumed by Broadway stars. John Lithgow made a convincing Dr. Pangloss and also narrated as Voltaire himself. His singing is about as good as Rex Harrison's was in My Fair Lady. Ryan Silverman portrayed Cunegonde's vain brother Maximilian and appeared later as the Grand Inquisitor and a Jesuit.

Paquette was performed by Bryonha Marie Parham who sang in several ensembles. Her character did not have the same stage time as in the Hal Prince version.  The Baron and Baroness were also cut, as were the singing sheep in the Eldorado scene.

If we were to name all the numbers that delighted us we would surely run out of space but we absolutely must mention the delightful "What's the Use" which takes place in the casino in Venice. We can't stop humming it!

Although it was a concert version, taking place on a shallow area in front of the orchestra, there was enough action to hold our attention.  Director Gary Griffin did a fine job on this account.  Costumes by Tracy Christensen were quite wonderful. 

In place of sets we had projections designed by Wendall K. Harrington and they were superb. All of the locales in the show were represented above the heads of the choristers and some of them had moving figures. For example, when the characters were at sea, we saw maps of the Atlantic Ocean with images of a several-masted schooner tacking back and forth! Each scene was suitably accompanied by these visuals and the audience loved them.

If there were one flaw in the evening, and of course there would have to be "in this best of all possible worlds", it would be the sound design. The lyrics to the songs are so clever that it was a shame to miss so much of them. Of all the singers, Mr. Appleby's words came across the best. We are not sure what kind of amplification was used but it was far from satisfactory. Since there were several songs that were new to us, we will have to look for the lyrics online.

(c) meche kroop

BABES IN TOYLAND

Christopher Fitzgerald and Lauren Worsham (photo by Erin Baiano)

What a coinkydink to have Victor Herbert in our  musical life two nights in a row! I was wondering whether the decision of MasterVoices to tackle this work was in any way affected by the success of Alyce Mott’s three-year-old Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live!  What MasterVoices attempted was very similar to what Ms. Mott does. There was an ambitious rewriting and adapting of the libretto to make sense to a 21st c. audience.

With Ted Sperling as Conductor and Director, last night’s production of Herbert’s unwieldy 1903 Babes in Toyland at Carnegie Hall was a huge buffet of musical and dramatic delicacies. Whether you left elated or disappointed was largely determined by your tastes and appetites. If you came for Herbert’s music, you would have been thrilled by the massive Orchestra of St.Luke’s and the marvelous choristers of MasterVoices, formerly known as The Collegiate Chorale).

If you came for fun, there were plenty of sight gags by the talented cast. Bill Irwin with his rubber body and keen instinct for humor nearly stole the show as The Toymaker who hates children and wants to destroy them with dangerously evil toys. Evil characters are ever so much fun and the lecherous Uncle Barnaby (Jonathan Freeman) tries to get rid of his adorable niece Jane and nephew Alan (the adorable Lauren Worsham and the equally adorable Christopher Fitzgerald) to get their inheritance.

In this he is aided and abetted by two henchmen—Roderigo (Jeffrey Schecter) and Gonzorgo (Chris Sullivan), neither of whom is adorable, but both of whom are very funny.

Jane is beloved by Tom Tom the Piper’s Son (Jay Armstrong Johnson) who dances as well as he sings, and Alan has romantic designs on pert Contrary Mary (the wonderful Kelli O’Hara) who must cleverly outwit Uncle Barnaby.

Tom’s mother The Widow Piper was portrayed by the fine Nina Hennesy.

The bizarre plot of the 1903 production involved a shipwreck and a volcano but we were urged by the narrator to use our imagination. Indeed, Herbert’s superlative orchestral writing evoked a mighty storm in the orchestra. We confess to being entranced by the percussionist who played the kettle drums, usually hidden in the back of the orchestra— but here, right in front for our visual delight. Herbert’s evocation of sunrise rivaled Beethoven’s depiction of moonlight in his appropriately named Moonlight Sonata.

Now here comes the less tasty part of the buffet. Both orchestra and chorus were onstage, not in the pit. For much of the performance, the clever words of the dialogue and lyrics were drowned out. Narrator Blair Brown, who had some apparently clever tongue-in-cheek comments, suffered the most. We cannot deny that there were some folks in the audience who did succeed in understanding the jokes because we heard laughter. We thought we were losing our hearing until we convened with other people in various parts of Carnegie Hall who shared our difficulty.

Glen McDonough’s original book and libretto created a spectacle of visual effects and music hall type numbers, many of which had nothing to do with the inconsequential and convoluted plot. It lasted four hours and audiences loved it! Last night’s production was trimmed to a bit over two hours an was adapted by Joe Keenan and Ted Sperling with script and some additional lyrics by Joe Keenan. There was something about Trump in the number “If I Were a Man Like That” which we could not hear enough to understand. We would have wished to have heard it.

The voices were amplified and the singers were on the book. We sense that part of the incomprehensibility was related to the situation of narrators and singers moving their heads to look down at the score and up at the audience, thereby not always getting consistent amplification.

The problem could have been ameliorated by the use of titles. We desperately wanted to get the jokes and felt alienated when we couldn’t hear them. Still, it was pleasure enough to listen to Herbert’s infectious music. Although the most famous numbers from the show are “Toyland” and “March of the Toys”, we had our own favorites: Tom’s song “Never Mind, Bo-Peep, We Will Find Your Sheep” , Jane’s song “Can’t Do the Sum”, Alan’s song “Song of the Poet” (in which Mr. Fitzgerald succeeded in making the words clear!), and the clever duet about marriage “Before and After”, sung by Ms. O’Hara and Mr. Fitzgerald.

All in all, a worthwhile evening that offered much but could have been better.

(c) meche kroop

AN OPERA IS AN OPERA IS AN OPERA

Cast and Production Team of Ricky Ian Gordon's 27 at New York City Center
(photo by Erin Baiano)

Regular readers will be shocked to learn that we have seen a new opera and enjoyed it.  We have about given up on hearing a new opera that has melodic arias.  That just isn’t going to come out of the 21st c., especially not in the English language. What we have been seeing are “plays with music”.  But the music has been mostly unmusical. Last night we saw and heard an opera in which many positive factors came together to produce an absorbing and enlightening experience. 27 was commissioned by The Opera Theater of Saint Louis in 2014. This New York premiere included a new expanded choral section written just for Master Voices.

Composer Ricky Ian Gordon chose a subject dear to his heart, a subject that inspired him, the life of Gertrude Stein, the renowned writer, poet and art collector, a major influence in the worlds of art and literature.  He avoided the trap of trying to set her texts to music as Virgil Thompson did.  Instead he chose librettist  Royce Vavrek who constructed a conversational libretto of short uncomplicated phrases that did what the English language does best. There was sufficient repetition of phrases to bind the work together in a manner that was reflective of, but not imitative of Gertrude Stein’s writing style. 

Several successive periods of Ms. Stein’s life were illustrated—a creative life that spanned two World Wars.  The theme running through all these epochs was her relationship with the incredibly devoted Alice B. Toklas who performed innumerable functions including emotional and practical support. Their love story takes center stage.

The earliest period illuminated her involvement with young painters like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse; then we visited her salon during the privations of World War I when food and coal were hard to come by. Next we witnessed the post-WWI period of "the lost generation" when her salon was visited predominantly by young writers—“Scotty” Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Finally we visited her during WWII when her political affiliations were suspect.

Mr. Gordon’s music was powerful when it needed to be and gentle when called for. The romantic duets for Ms. Stein and Ms. Toklas were beautifully written as were the ensembles. The music for wartime utilized percussion to evoke the bombing of the Luxembourg Gardens and the anxiety of those Parisians enduring it.

In addition to the compelling story and the exciting music, the casting of the singers and their performances were extraordinary.  As Ms. Stein, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe’s larger than life performance perfectly suited the larger than life character of Ms. Stein. The deep and muscular timbre of her voice and her acting had us believing that she was the ghost of Ms. Stein right there on the stage of New York City Center.

Soprano Heidi Stober perfectly portrayed helpmate and wife Alice B. Toklas.  The opera opens with her alone, after Ms. Stein’s death, knitting a bulky garment, knitting up the scenes of their life together. The opera ends at the same place—a superb framing device letting us experience the memories along with her.  Ms. Stober’s bright soprano was perfect for the part and blended beautifully with Ms. Blythe’s.

The other characters in the opera were portrayed by three fine artists for whom we have nothing but praise.  Tenor Theo Lebow was effective as the timid and bibulous Scott Fitzgerald-- but he was absolutely remarkable as the young Picasso. Thanks to the imaginative costuming of James Schuette, he entered dressed as a matador wearing the head of a bull.

Baritone Tobias Greenhalgh gave an excellent portrayal of the photographer Man Ray but was most impressive as Ms. Stein’s brother Leo who strutted around in an enormous raccoon coat, denigrating his sister’s salon and choice of paintings.

Bass-baritone Daniel Brevik impressed as Matisse and later as Hemingway, dragging an elephant behind him.  Oh yes, did we mention that the work was salted with a great deal of humor?

The funniest scene of the opera involved the “wives of geniuses” who bored Ms. Toklas with their talk of perfume, hats, and furs. Just imagine if you can, these three highly masculine singers in drag, singing an unforgettably clever trio.

A trio of soldiers, portrayed by the aforementioned Mr. Lebow, Mr. Greenhalgh, and Mr. Brevik appeared in various scenes together. Their voices harmonized so incredibly well. Their working so well as an ensemble is understandable, given that they portrayed the same roles at the St. Louis premiere.

The set design by Allen Moyer had a great big “27” to indicate  the address on Rue de Fleurus where all the famous and soon-to-be-famous gathered. The stage was littered with paintings and some chairs. 

Ted Sperling, Artistic Director, conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Master Voices. It is well worth mentioning that the diction of this enormous chorus was so crisp that not a single word was lost. Although there were projected titles, they were superfluous. Everyone’s diction was beyond reproach.

The production was well directed by James Robinson.

Every element worked together to produce a memorable evening about which we had a surprising thought—“I’d see this one again”. We have yet to feel such enthusiasm for a contemporary work.  Our eyes and ears have been opened.

(c) meche kroop