A CELEBRATION AT THE KOSCIUSZKO FOUNDATION

Tadeusz Domanowski, Edyta Kulczak, and Disellla Lárusdóttir

The Kosciuszko Foundation on East 65th St. has been a fixture on the New York cultural scene since 1925 and was named for the Polish hero who helped the United States of America during the Revolutionary War.  Its mission is to promote closer ties between our two nations by means of educational, scientific, and cultural exchange.  It is the latter mission that has brought us to their beautiful historic brownstone on a number of occasions.

It is a fine idea to promote Polish culture in the USA. Most Americans, when asked about Poland's contributions to our culture, would barely know what to say except for Chopin, whose prodigious piano output must be on everyone's short list of brilliant composers for the piano.

The Foundation awards up to $1 million yearly to students and scholars, scientists and professionals, but above all--artists.

Last night, we joined in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Poland's achievement of independence. Before that time, Poland had been divided up like a pie with Russia dominating the Eastern portion, and Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupying the remainder. The Polish language was outlawed and Chopin, among many other artists, fled to France where he flourished as a composer. The minor mode of his songs (and yes, many of his piano works strike us as songs without words) reflect the sadness one feels when exiled from one's homeland.

Chopin did write songs with words as well and that brings us to the raison d'être for last night's thrilling recital; it was an hommage to Marcella Sembrich, a famous opera singer of bygone days about whom we knew next to nothing. The fascinating story involves her rise from poverty to wealth, fame, and philanthropy. She was friends with Caruso and the great composers of the 19th c. and impressed Puccini with her performance of the role of Mimi. She starred at the Metropolitan Opera for 25 years.

Guest speaker Richard Wargo, the Artistic Director of the Marcella Sembrich Museum in upstate New York recounted interesting facts about her life, as did Ewa Zadworna, Director of Cultural Affairs at the foundation. The anecdote that captured our imagination is that Alexander II of Russia invited her to the Winter Palace to sing her signature song--Chopin's "Życzenie"("The Maiden's Wish")--in Polish!  This was during the period when Polish was outlawed!

And now we come to the entertainment portion of the evening in which two great artists of the voice performed a most satisfying recital which ended with an encore of this very song, Ms. Sembrich's favorite, and now our favorite as well.  This "maiden's wish" is that Chopin's songs appear regularly on recital programs!

It is always a thrill to get up close and personal with international opera stars and the gorgeous room at the Kosciuszko Foundation is the perfect "stage", what with fine wood panelling, heavy velvet curtains, and a portrait of the dashing Kosciuszko. We felt transported to another time and place.

Icelandic Soprano Disella Lárusdóttir and mezzo-soprano Edyta Kulczak were perfect choices for this special evening and entertained a most attentive audience with operatic selections that seemed to have been arranged sequentially from Baroque to Romantic. They wisely scaled their voices to the intimacy of the room. Their accompanist Tadeusz Domanowski served them well with sensitive piano support, never calling attention to himself.

Ms. Kulczak opened the program with two Händel arias,  In "Se bramate" from Serse, Ms. Kulczak's richly burnished instrument carried us on a wave of melody. With astute variations of dynamics and tempi, she demonstrated great expressivity of both voice and gesture. We enjoyed the accuracy of her fioritura.

In contrast, Händel's "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Rinaldo offered opportunities for a lovely long legato line. The repeated verse was given several variations of ornamentation.

Ms. Lárusdóttir followed with Susanna's final aria from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, sung in lovely Italian, meaning that the double consonants were never shortchanged, as they often are, by American singers. There was a lovely warmth to the performance and she soared to some stunning high notes at the end and employed an affecting change of color when Mozart made the brief switch to the minor mode.

The two women joined voices several times during the evening and dazzled us with their harmony. It was unusual to hear Countess Almaviva sung by a mezzo but we loved the way it provided distinction between her dignity and Susanna's carefree attitude in "Sull'aria" from Nozze di Figaro.

They also offered "Ah guarda sorella" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte in which they made use of the portraits on the walls. The vocal lines were delicately embroidered. We only wish the two lovelies had ditched the music stand. We felt the same way about "The Flower Duet" from Leo Délibes' Lakme. They sounded great but readers will remember how we feel about music stands! It was so lovely that the audience demanded to hear it again as an encore.

Miss Lárusdóttir gave a lovely account of Adina's aria "Prendi per me sei libero" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, showing her coloratura stuff with brilliant vocal fireworks.  In "Je suis encore" from Massenet's Manon, she sang in fine French and totally convinced us as an innocent provincial girl on her first trip away from home, unguarded in her emotional expression. This interpretation served to heighten sympathy for the character and would make Manon's unhappy fate all the more tragic.

Ms. Kulczak got her chance with Donizetti as well and dazzled us with "Fia dunque vero" from La Favorita.  What a brilliant aria! The arpeggi in the piano effectively support the melodic vocal line. The fiery cabaletta offered the opportunity for Ms.Kulczak to show her bright upper register where the resonance was outstanding. 

Another aspect of this artist was revealed in the seductive coloration she lent to Saint Saëns' "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" from Samson et Dalila. The French was parfait and the downward scales seemed like a swoon.

French works very well for her, as heard in "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" from Bizet's Carmen. Mr. Domanowski's piano captured all the excitement and her "sister in song" joined in for some spirited dancing.  It was a fine way to end the program.

But there were more delights to come--the aforementioned song by Chopin, the repeat of the "Flower Song" and "Belle nuit" from Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman. Two lovely voices intertwined is a recipe for magic!

We left with a renewed appreciation for Polish history and culture and a desire to hear more Chopin songs.  Are any singers listening?

(c) meche kroop

TRAGEDY TONIGHT! COMEDY TONIGHT!

Chad Kranak, Samantha Britt, Robert Balonek, Darcy Dunn (photo by Sheryl Liu)

If you shed a tear or two during Richard Wargo's Ballymore-Part One: Winners, not to worry because Seymour Barab's La Pizza Con Funghi will send you out with a grin from ear to ear.  Chelsea Opera Co-Founders Leonarda Priore and Lynne Hayden-Findlay wisely chose to balance tragedy with comedy much as Puccini did when he followed Il Tabarro with Gianni Schicchi.  Irish dramatist Brian Friel penned Lovers as a two-part play comprising Winners and Losers.  That he chose to see the 17-year old couple Mag and Joe, fated to die in a boating accident on the same day as the play takes place, as winners is an interesting concept.  Perhaps they are winners because they died with their hopes for the future intact before life came along and whupped 'em upside the head.  We saw the play exactly one year ago (The Actors Company Theater) and recall that Losers was about a middle-aged couple trying to have some intimacy under the watchful eyes of the woman's bedridden mother who did everything to prevent it.  That was indeed humorous and we understand that Mr. Wargo similarly adapted Part II which we would be happy to see/hear in view of how greatly we enjoyed Part I.

The work was introduced by some lovely lilting music, played by Jerry O'Sullivan on the Uilleann Pipes, which went a long way toward setting the mood.  Scenes of the pregnant Mag (not just pregnant but 1960's Ireland pregnant) and her fiancé Joe are commented upon by two Ballad-Singers, beautifully costumed in ancient attire, looking very much like Isolde and King Marke.  Costume Design was credited to Ms. Hayden-Findlay herself.  In the play, they were merely narrators so this was quite a lovely touch.  They described how the two young people arrived at the hilltop overlooking the town of Ballymore and what happened to them afterward, a rather dry and factual commentary offsetting the intensity of the interaction between Mag and Joe as they planned their wedding and life together.  One senses that all is not rosy since Joe will have to give up his goal of a university degree to assume responsibility for a family.  Mag is so exuberant that he is unable to study for his maths exam, which had been the goal for the day.

The role of Mag was sung by the bright-voiced soprano Samantha Britt who did a great job of convincing us that she was but 17.  Her opening aria looking down at her hometown was splendid. Tenor Chad Kranak portrayed Joe, appearing somewhat older than the part called for; he sings her a lovely lullabye as she sleeps.  We would have appreciated titles since there were times when Ms. Britt's voice was overridden by the 14-piece Chelsea Opera Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Guest Conductor Steven M. Crawford, or when the diction was insufficiently clear.  The Ballad-Singers were mezzo Darcy Dunn and Robert Balonek, both in fine voice.

The music was far more accessible than that of most contemporary operas and the arias quite beautiful.  We always ask ourselves whether the music has added anything to the play and in this case the answer is a resounding yes, although some of the recitatives might as well have been spoken for better comprehension.  Friel's writing is rather musical on its own and Mr. Wargo's writing emphasized it.  Special note was taken of Stephanie Barbirak's harp and Kevin Willois' flute.

How amazing it was to witness the same four artists in radically different roles in the second half of the program.  Seymour Barab, in writing both music and lyrics, created an hilarious sendup of opera seria that had the audience rolling in the aisles from the very first moment when Guest Conductor  Samuel McCoy assumed the podium in high camp style.  If he were mimicking someone particular, do not ask us to reveal the name!  The work was adapted from Michael Green's play Il Fornicazione (seriously) and takes place in the 18th c. with the most outrageously elaborate wigs and quite gorgeous costumes.  An adulterous wife named Voluptua (the versatile Ms. Britt, this time perfectly audible) confides in her maid Phobia (the very funny Ms. Dunn) that she is bored with her husband of six weeks, Count Formaggio (Robert Balonek) and has taken a lover Scorpio (Chad Kranak, this time looking perfect for the role) who suffers from chronic tardiness.  Every trope of opera seria is burlesqued and references to Falstaff, Il Trovatore and Nozze di Figaro (among others) are slipped in.  We will not spoil the fun any further because you will have an opportunity to catch the final performance today at 4PM at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea.

What makes this comic opera work so well is Mr. Barab's facility with fitting words and music together, much like Gilbert and Sullivan combined into one person.  The rhymes are inventive and hilarious and the music emphasizes each one.  We would gladly see this again!

The minimal set design by Sheryl Liu worked well and the outrageous wigs and makeup by Andrea Calabrese were a further source of hilarity.  Sure-fire direction was by Ms. Hayden-Findlay who never missed a trick.

© meche kroop