OPERA'S DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Michael Pilafian, Judith Fredricks, Veronica Loiacono, Edgar Jaramillo, Theresa Panicaldi, Patricia Vital, Carlos Jimeno, and Elena Heimur at The Metropolitan Room

The theme for last night's Opera New York event at The Metropolitan Room was "Opera's Desperate Housewives: and the Men Who Made Them That Way". We were sure that we were going to hear Lucia's mad scene but we did not.  Not to worry, there are plenty of opera heroines suffering at the hands of men, enough for several evenings.

Judith Fredricks, Artistic Director of Opera New York, is hard at work bringing opera to unusual venues and new audiences. Last night she served as Mistress of Ceremonies, introducing the arias to the audience and the audience to the arias. Although we were in a nightclub environment, the audience was rapt and completely quiet until they burst into wild applause at the end of each number.  So yes, newbies can be turned onto opera and no, opera is not dying. There is nothing like hearing a trained voice without amplification and people respond readily to it.

In Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, the leader of a traveling circus is so controlling of his wife Nedda that he drives her into the arms of Silvio. As Ms. Fredricks pointed out, this will not end well. She further pointed out how the prologue serves the opera as an overture serves the symphony, introducing all the themes. In place of an orchestra, we had Michael Pilafian, the Music Director of Opera New York, at the piano--introducing all those themes.  Baritone Carlos Jimeno sang the prologue in which the clown Tonio describes the upcoming action in "Si puo...si puo".

Later in the program, tenor Edgar Jaramillo sang "Vesti la giubba", the famous aria from the same opera in which Canio, the leader of the troop, expresses the misery he feels underneath the funny exterior of face paint and costumes. Mr. Jaramillo always sings with a depth of passion, almost wringing sympathy from the audience for this man who is about to kill his wife. Looks like Canio was the desperate one in this case!

Russians are also given to great passions and we heard two arias from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, arias sung by the unhappy Liza, driven to suicide by the neglect of her gambler/lover. We do not speak Russian but soprano Elena Heimur sounded great and sang with suitable passion.

Soprano Veronica Loiacono dazzled the audience in an interesting juxtaposition of two arias sung by the same character in two different operas by two different composers in two different languages. She sang Marguerite's Jewel Song "Ah, je ris" from Gounod's Faust in which Faust, under the tutelage of the devil, seduces the young innocent girl with a cask of jewelry. Ms. Loiacono's artistry shone in her tone and it shone in the fine French she employed.

From mad with joy to mad with sorrow, the character known as Marguerita in Boito's Mefistofele has a very sad mad scene in prison after she has killed her baby. The colors and the sound of Italian are quite different but Ms. Loiacono handled the change easily.

We were happy to see Patricia Vital once again and particularly enjoyed her portrayal of Ophelie in Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet. She performed "A vos jeux, mes amis" with excellent dramatic instinct. She appeared quite crazy, tearing up flowers, prior to drowning herself. We were quite moved. Her vocal skills included sensitive dynamics and the ability to float a high note. Mr. Pilafian's piano part was equally compelling.

New to us was soprano Theresa Panicaldi whose large voice and ample overtones did justice to "Vieni, t'affretta" from Verdi's Macbeth. In this case one would wonder from where Lady Macbeth's desperate hunger for power originated. She does go mad with guilt and dies but the source was herself. We have no man to blame here, unless her father did it!

With all that sturm und drang out of the way, the evening closed with something more tender--from Puccini's La Boheme. Mr. Jaramillo and Mr. Jimeno performed the nostalgic duet from Act IV "O Mimi". The finale of the evening was rather original--the Act III quartet from the same opera with Ms. Loiacono and Ms. Panicaldi both portraying Mimi with Mr. Jaramillo as Rodolfo (a role in which we first heard him and fell hard for his performance)--and Ms. Heimur and Ms. Vital both portraying Musetta to Mr. Jimeno's Marcello. 

As an encore, the ensemble sang "Libiamo" from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata.  Yes, Violetta did sink into declining health, despair, and death--at the hands of a provincial Giorgio Germont and his hot-headed son Alfredo.  Thus we returned to the theme for the evening.

The audience was highly enthusiastic and our newbie friend found the evening joyful and fun, contrary to expectations of stultification.

(c) meche kroop

THIS MISS IS A HIT but THE HIT IS AMISS

Elvira and Mustafà's Harem in Utopia Opera's L'Italiana in Algeri

Stage Director and Conductor William Remmers had a radical concept for Rossini's first attempt at comedy--his 1813 L'Italiana in Algeri.  He achieved consistency within this concept, that of emphasizing the terrorism and violence, but paid the price of sacrificing the comedy.  In his version, Mustafà is not the corpulent buffone he was meant to be but a lean, mean and violent military dictator.  When Angelo Anelli wrote the libretto, all Europe was fascinated by all things Turkish, which meant the Ottoman Empire, actually already in decline.  Algeria at that time was part of the Empire, hence the title.

But updating the opera to the 20th c. brought it perilously close to our own time and the military costumes and assault rifles became an uncomfortable reminder of the Age of Terrorism, making laughter difficult.  This Bey was not a buffoon; the portrayal made it difficult to accept his being so easily tricked by the wily Isabella.

Sung by the radiant mezzo Caroline Tye, Isabella is emblematic of the modern woman and her feminine wiles contrasted beautifully with the submissive nature of Mustafà's rejected wife Elvira, sung by sparkling soprano Patricia Vital and her handmaiden Zulma, winningly sung by mezzo-soprano Kristin Roney.  

All three women sang superbly with excellent diction and enviable control of the embellishments.  Their skill at bel canto singing was impressive and made the evening a worthwhile one.  We loved the way Ms. Tye sang "Cruda sorte....Amor tiranno" and "Per lui che adoro", which we haven't enjoyed so much since Stephanie Blythe sang it in Santa Fe a dozen years ago!

One male role stood out as well, that of Taddeo, Isabella's traveling companion.  Jia-jun Hong exhibited admirable comedic skills as well as a fine voice which he used well. Still very young (perhaps as young as Rossini was when he composed this dramma giocoso) he is a talent to watch.

We wish we could have enjoyed the other male leads as well.  Bass Duncan Hartman sang reasonably well in spite of a vocal indisposition but seemed cast to fulfill Mr. Remmers' concept. He just didn't match the ridiculous figure we wanted to see. 

Tenor Chad Cygan neither looked like a romantic hero that the desirable Isabella would have gone searching for nor did he have the vocal chops for the role.  He handled the rapid-fire patter quite well and most of the recitativi but the upper half of his register was uncomfortably and unattractively strained.  This is regrettable since Rossini's melodies are so enchanting.

Roman Laba made a fine captain of the army, wearing a red fez.  Eric Lamp and Victor Ziccardi doubled as soldiers and slaves. They made some fine moves in a little dance. Jordana Rose, Erica Koehring and Winnie Nieh played members of the harem.

The manic energy of the ensembles with which Rossini generally ends each act were quite well done vocally but disturbing dramatically.  Act I ended in a virtual bloodbath with characters all attacking each other with guns, knives and robes.  When Act II began, all the characters wore bloody bandages, braces and crutches.  EWWW! Lindoro looked like Quasimodo.

The 17 member orchestra played well for the most part with occasional lapses of intonation.  We loved the pizzicato opening of the exciting overture after which the melody gets tossed around by the winds. Samuel Marques played some fine solos on the clarinet and Susan Morton was superb on the harpsichord. Mr. Remmers conducted with his customary gusto.

With audience-selected operas and a minuscule budget, it is amazing what Mr. Remmers can pull together.  There was, as usual, no set; costumes probably were assembled from the singers' very own closets.  

The feisty Utopia Opera has a most unusual double bill coming up in March.  Watch for it!  You may wish to vote online for next year's operas.  Participate!

© meche kroop

SHAKESPEARE GOES TO THE OPERA

Benjamin Ian Meyerson, Sultana Shoshani, Laurel Shoshani, Omar Bowey, Patricia Vital, D'Ariel Barnard and Veronica Loiacono

As the final entry in their Summer Festival of the Performing Arts, Opera New York presented an evening of dramatic readings by The Bard along with excerpted arias and duets from operas based upon four of his tragedies. 

Shakespeare's plays have inspired literature and ballets as well as operas; although his oeuvre is renowned for his memorable use of the English language in iambic pentameter, his plays survive very well as operas with stories somewhat altered and in other languages.

Why is that, we may ask.  It would seem that the carefully wrought plots and the fullness of the characters are largely responsible.  Whether sung in Italian or French, we submerge ourselves in his stories and identify with his humanity.

Last night's program opened with Romeo and Juliet.  Artistic Director Judith Fredricks, who also directed the operatic segments of the program, explained to the audience why Juliet is sung in two different languages, adaptations having been composed by different composers.  She further explained that Juliet would be sung by different sopranos according to the type of voice each possesses.

Delightful D'Ariel Barnard used her crystalline coloratura and considerable acting skills to convey a young girl's desperate infatuation in the demanding aria "Je veux vivre" from Charles Gounod's work. 

Then Sultana Shoshani performed the balcony scene with Benjamin Ian Meyerson as her Romeo. She was finely costumed and coiffed for the part and read Shakespeare's words in a way that could be described as musical.  She totally convinced as a young girl in love.  But we enjoyed her even more when she played a scene with Laurel Shoshani as her nurse.  The Bard invested this scene with humor as The Nurse refuses to give Juliet the information she so badly desires.  Later the two were equally fine, but no longer humorous, as The Nurse horrifies Juliet with her tale of Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment.

Sultana Shoshani and Laurel Shoshani

Soprano Veronica Loiacono had the weightier voice needed for Juliet's "Poison Aria" and admirably lived up to the challenge. Yet another Juliet, Patricia Vital, sang the love duet with rising star tenor Omar Bowey.  There was some marvelous music-making to be heard.  Ms. Vital switched easily to Italian for "Oh quante volte" from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  As much as we love Gounod's melodic writing, nothing can equal Bellini's long sinuous lines and Ms. Vital gave an impassioned and musical performance.

Macbeth was given a similar treatment with Sarah Charles' recitation of Lady Macbeth's "Letter Monologue", followed by a sit-up-and-take-notice delivery of similar material by soprano Julia Rolwing whose recitativo was even more convincing.  Her ample voice and committed delivery of "Vieni! t'affretta! " was one of the highlights of the evening.

Julia Rowling

Greg Coughlin impressed with his reading of Macbeth's monologue and Ta'u Pupu'a did likewise with his huge tenor in "Ah! La Paterna Mano", an aria sung by the grief-stricken Macduff.

From Hamlet we heard Ephraim Shoshani (the Shoshani family must be the 21st c. Barrymores!) recite "To be or not to be" in a unique and interesting manner, after which we heard another highlight of the evening--Patricia Vital singing Ophelia's "Mad Scene" from the opera by Ambroise Thomas.  This was probably the best performance we have heard from her.  She created a character both innocent and unbalanced, using her impressive instrument in the numerous runs and trills, showing great bel canto skill.

Patricia Vital

The final section of the program involved readings from Shakespeae's Othello and duets from Verdi's Otello.  Baritone Roberto Borgatti was chilling in Iago's aria "Credo in un Dio crudel" and again in a duet with tenor Joseph DiSalle as the eponymous tragic hero.  Both men have substantial voices and are a pleasure to hear.  Mr. Borgatti is especially attuned to the Italian language and phrasing.

Mr. DiSalle also sang The Love Scene and The Death Scene with soprano Elena Heimur as his Desdemona. She sang a very touching "Willow Song" as well.

Elena Heimur and Joseph DiSalle

Robert Wilson was the versatile accompanist for the vocal part of the evening. The theatrical scenes were very finely directed by Fred Blankfein.

It was a long evening that seemed to go by very swiftly.  We are sorry to see the Summer Festival end but are looking forward to more Shakespeare next month from Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble.  The Bard rules!

(c) meche kroop

A CENTURY OLD AND STILL FRESH

Omar Bowey, Elena Heimur, Joseph DiSalle, Roberto Borgatti, Veronica Loiacono, Jodi Karem, Patricia Vital, Walter Hartman and D'Ariel Barnard

Having enjoyed last Sunday's concert of opera scenes presented by Opera New York, we decided to see what this ambitious company could do with operetta.  The program was introduced by Director Judith Fredricks ; she described operetta as the bridge between European opera and American Musical Theater, an opinion that agreed totally with one we have often expressed.

She spoke of marching songs, drinking songs, romance, intrigue, silly plots and ravishing high notes--all of which we heard and enjoyed last night.  The names of Sigmund Romberg, Rudolf Friml, Victor Herbert, Franz Lehar and Johann Strauss Junior may or may not be familiar to you but they certainly were to your grandparents and possibly your parents.  These operettas were written about a century ago and merit revival as much as the zarzuelas we wrote about in our last entry.

Many of the singers last night were written about last week and we were delighted to hear them sing these treasures with neither amplification nor a whiff of irony.  Once again, Robert Wilson was the versatile accompanist.

D'Ariel Barnard (last Sunday's Frasquita) initiated the program with Nacio Herb Brown's "Love is Where You Find It" from The Kissing Bandit.  The song has a gypsy flavor and several melismatic passages to which this stunning soprano lent her brilliant coloratura.  Although not strictly speaking an operetta of that epoch, her delivery of Bernstein's "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide was thrilling.

Soprano Elena Heimur showed a fine voice and significant versatility in selections from Romberg's The New Moon, both in her solo and in a duet with the ardent tenor Joseph DiSalle entitled "Lover Come Back to Me".  It was so heartfelt that we were glad that he came back!

Soprano Veronica Loiacono, seen last week as Micaela in Carmen, impressed us with her performance of "Vilia" from Lehar's The Merry Widow and continued on with the Merry Widow Waltz in a duet with baritone Roberto Borgatti, whose secure baritone served him well in "One Alone" from Romberg's Desert Song.

Mezzo-soprano Jodi Karem (last week's Carmen) was delightful as Prince Orlofsky in "Chacun à son goût" from Strauss' Die Fledermaus, interpolating some clever and topical English lyrics.  It was astonishing to witness her versatility.

From the same operetta, soprano Patricia Vital (last week's Norina) performed "Adele's Laughing Song" with brilliant top notes, fine coloratura technique and a charming persona.  It was truly memorable.

Young tenor Omar Bowey reaffirmed our high opinion of his performance last week as Ernesto in Don Pasquale.  His sweet voice was perfect for "One Flower in Your Garden" from Romberg's The Desert Song.  We expect to hear a lot more from this gifted young man.

Bass-baritone Walter Hartman, last week's excellent Don Pasquale, was a real audience favorite in "Every Day is Ladies Day" from Herbert's The Red Mill.  He has a dark covered bass that lends itself to comedy for which he has quite a flair.

We have already put next Sunday evening's program on our calendar and so should you.  It will comprise readings of Shakespeare's texts and selections from operas based on his plays.  It promises to be a compelling evening.

ⓒ meche kroop

SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT

Edgar Jaramillo and Jodi Karem

 D'ariel Barnard, Jackie M. Hayes, Roberto Borgatti, and Jodi Karem

Daniel Quintana, Patricia Vital, Walter Hartman and Omar Bowey

Summer is indeed a time for informality and so it was that we found ourselves at a café table, relaxed and smiling, enjoying excerpts of three operas and hearing some fine voices. Only a few were previously known to us (and much admired) and we were happy to be introduced to some new ones. Cleverly staged by Director Judith Fredricks with the versatile Robert Wilson as accompanist, the entire experience was pleasurable.

First on the program was Carmen, at least all of the essential scenes from Bizet's most popular work.  In the role of Don José, we heard the creamy-voiced tenor Edgar Jaramillo who seemed to reach into the depths of his soul to reveal the weak-willed country boy who is seduced away from his military and marital plans by that bad girl we all adore, the eponymous heroine.

Jodi Karem  has a fine mezzo and certainly conveyed Carmen's sexuality in the way the audience expects to experience it; nonetheless we sense that she has a deeply personal sexuality that she could bring to her interpretation.  She seemed more authentic in the tavern scene where she gets angry at Don José and mocks him.  That was riveting!

We had the same feeling about Veronica Loiacono in her interpretation of Micaëla.  She has a lovely soprano and gave us what we expected of a girl from the country; but in "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante" she could probably benefit by digging a little deeper into some frightening experience of her own that she had to overcome, in order to make her portrayal feel more authentic.  That girl is pretending not to be scared!

As Escamillo, baritone Roberto Borgatti sang at the same fine level that he achieved several months ago as Giorgio Germont.  His interpretation of the arrogant toreador was right on the mark and he sure twirled that cape!

D'ariel Barnard and Jackie M. Hayes produced some beautiful harmonies as Frasquita and Mercedes. Singing in French is quite challenging, not only the vowels but the maintenance of an even barely accented vocal line.  Everyone's French was comprehensible but all could benefit by working on line.  Much of the phrasing was rather "four-square".

An excerpt from Puccini's Manon Lescaut followed with two big beautiful voices filling the room from stem to stern.  Julia Rolwing sang the eponymous heroine and Ta'u Pupu'a sang the role of Le Chevalier des Grieux.  The singing was outstanding but a bit more connection between these two artists would have been welcomed.

The final work on the program comprised excerpts from Donizetti's Don Pasquale.  Bass Walter Hartmann made an effective titular character and had the audience giggling.  He was especially fine in his patter song and had a fine duet with Norina, his intended bride.  That role was well sung and portrayed by soprano Patricia Vital.

We understand the justification for presenting the work in English, with the marvelous baritone Daniel Quintana employing his comic flair to narrate the action.  However, English is most difficult to understand in the upper register and we missed much of what Ms. Vital was singing; in the lower register, everything came across.  Some of the translation worked rather well but in other cases the accents of the text did not quite fit the accents of the music, as is often the case.

Mr. Quintana is truly a stage animal and did exceptionally well as Dr. Malatesta, both in his patter song and in his duet with Norina.  Last but by no means least, we were quite taken with Omar Bowey who brought his fresh sweet tenor to the role of Ernesto.  We were astonished to learn that he is only 21 years old and still an undergraduate.  We want to hear more of this promising young tenor as he matures.

Opera New York has several more tempting recitals to offer for the month of July.  Take a look at www.operany.com!

 © meche kroop