O COMFORT YE

Lauren Flanigan and Friends at St. Paul and St. Andrews

Is it really 23 years since superstar soprano Lauren Flanigan began raising money for the homeless with an annual Christmas recital?  For the past couple years St. Paul and St. Andrews has been the home for the recital with proceeds from the recital going to benefit The West Side Campaign Against Hunger--not your ordinary food pantry but a community organized supermarket of healthful food for those that most need it. When government fails, the community must provide!

Ms. Flanigan's friends joined together to provide an evening's entertainment for opera lovers who bring winter coats, blankets, toys, and food. This annual event is always a highlight of the holiday season.

Leading off the evening was tenor Aaron Blake who delighted us with  "Comfort Ye/ Every Valley" from Handel's Messiah. Without a doubt, this selection was the best choice and Mr. Blake sang it with a beautiful ping in his voice and exemplary diction, making every word comprehensible, something we don't take for granted. His heartfelt delivery was matched by some delicious trills on the piano by Maestro Kamal Khan.

Ms. Flanigan's delivery of "Vieni t'affretta" from Verdi's Macbeth showed no evidence of the head cold from which she was suffering but rather thrilled us to the bone from the very first utterance of Shakespeare's text, right through the chilling recitativo and the intense aria. The exposed a capella phrasing left no doubt as to her consummate artistry.

She followed this serious song with the most delightful lighthearted cabaret song by Marc Blitzstein entitled "I Love Lechery" or "Modest Maid". A catchy tune and lyrics that were twice as clever as they had to be were given their complete due by Ms. Flanigan's witty performance.

Tenor Raul Melo was an important part of the program performing "Chanson de Kleinzach" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. He used his voice well, emphasizing the nature of this student drinking song with lots of effective acting.  We were glad he stayed around to sing the charming duet "Lippen schweigen" from Franz Lehar's Die Lustige Witwe.

Also from Les Contes d'Hoffman we heard "Scintille diamant" (Dapertutto's aria) sung by bass Daniel Sumegi who sang with great depth in his lower register.  He also sang something in a lighter vein, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", an audience favorite.

Kenneth Overton lent his silky baritone to "Old Man River" from Jerome Kern's Showboat, an American classic. He also sang Roland Hayes' "Sister Mary Had-a But One Child".

Mark Delavan has a very different baritone, one which was perfect for "O du, mein holder Abenstern" from Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser, one of our favorite Wagner arias.

There was plenty of Wagner on the program, thanks to the presence of some sizable voices. Soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra dazzled us with "Elsa's Traum" from Lohengrin, an opera which we have never seen but want very much to.

From Wagner's Tannhäuser, mezzo-soprano Mary Ann Stewart gave an exciting performance of "Geliebter, komm" in which her overtones had overtones. From Siegfried, soprano Kirsten Chambers evinced all the excitement and tenderness of Brünnhilde's awakening in "Ewig war ich", accompanied by Keith Chambers.

Another large voice we enjoyed was that of mezzo-soprano Rachelle Pike who sang the aria of Princesse Bouillon in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur--"Acerba voluttà". "Elektra's Monologue" from Richard Strauss' opera Elektra was given a performance, as dramatically intense as it was vocally, by soprano Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs, accompanied by Michael Recchiuti on the piano. The phrase "Agamemnon, wo bist du" was heart rending.

It was a very special moment for us when soprano Olga Makarina sang "Mi chiamano Mimi" from Puccini's La Bohème. What made it special was that one of our earliest operatic experiences was attending a master class in which Joan Dornemann coached her in that same aria! Many years have gone by but time has not dimmed the luster of her beautiful instrument. Rachmaninov's "How Fine This Spot" was beautifully performed with sensitive phrasing and dynamics.

Amy Burton and John Musto were on hand for some cabaret that everyone enjoyed.  Three selections from the oeuvre of Irving Berlin were performed with pizazz--"I'm on my way to Cuba", "Russian Lullabye", and "Let's face the music and dance".

There were some fine young up and coming artists on the program. It was a pleasure to hear mezzo-soprano Sophie Delphis, whom we reviewed last month. Her relaxed presentation worked well for "Nobles seigneurs" from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. Her French was parfait; the scale passages and arpeggi were finely handled.

Soprano Nadine Benjamin performed "D'amor sull'ali rosée" from Verdi's Il Trovatore with fine nuance. She knows what so many singers with high voices ignore.  High doesn't have to mean loud! Instead she floated her top notes with lovely delicacy.

There was plenty of ensemble singing as well. The Ebony Ecumenical Choir made their annual appearance offering a rousing "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

The entire cast joined forces for Adolphe Adam's "O Holy NIght", with each singer taking a phrase. It was a very generous program that seemed to fly by. Generous is the right word. The artists gave their all and so did the grateful audience.

(c) meche kroop

FIGARO QUA FIGARO LÀ

Cast of FIGARO x FIGARO produced by BARE OPERA

When we were new to opera we used to get Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia mixed up with Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. The characters were the same, all derived from the plays of Pierre Beaumarchais; so why were the vocal ranges sometimes different? Why didn't one composer write the entire story in one opera, or even a trilogy?  Last night, in the farthest reaches of Brooklyn, we experienced a pastiche that came very close to achieving such a perfect union.

The boutique opera company known as Bare Opera is never bare of imagination, creativity, and an adventuresome spirit. For this production, Executive Producer Kirsten Scott (herself a superlative singer) assembled a fine production team and cast which brought Beaumarchais' characters to vivid life.

Director Cecilia Ligorio put a modern feminist spin on the work; the women join forces to deal with restrictive guardians and cheating husbands. Scenes from Il Barbiere are interpolated within Nozze di Figaro to give insight into the origins of the characters. Most of the important arias and ensembles are preserved with tedious recitativi deleted. The entire work came in at a swift two hours. Extraneous characters are also deleted with singers assuming more than one role.

The key to making this work was the high quality of the musical values, not to mention the acting. Characters and relationships were made crystal clear. The singers are well known to us from other productions by Bare Opera, as well as from performances with other companies. They were all beyond excellent.

The trickiest role was that of Rosina, performed by the superb soprano Liana Guberman, whose career has taken off since our first review. The role of Rosina in Il Barbiere is generally sung by a mezzo-soprano but the low register presented no problem for Ms. Guberman who was able to portray the spunky young Rosina as well as the rejected yet dignified Countess in Nozze. It always bothered us that Rossini and Mozart chose different fachs for the same character.  But it didn't faze Ms. Guberman who sounds superb in whatever she tackles.

No less impressive was the Susanna of Kristina Bachrach whom we hear often at the Brooklyn Art Song Society. It was a definite treat to see this splendid soprano in a new light. Her instrument is a beautiful one and she employs it effectively with fine color. Most importantly we believed her characterization and particularly enjoyed her "Deh vieni non tardar" in which she teases her jealous husband. 

Baritone Suchan Kim seems to own the role of Count Almaviva. His tone is a bit richer than the designation "lyric baritone" would have one expect and he absolutely convinced us as the husband who projects his own philandering nature onto his neglected wife. Watching him do a slow burn was pure pleasure. His shamefaced apology at the end touched our heart, as did the Countess' forgiveness.  Mozart ended his opera with the theme of change and redemption, not so different from last night's Christmas Carol produced by Gramercy Opera. (Review below)

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the Figaro of bass/baritone Paul La Rosa. His voice, his build, and his dramatic presentation are all muscular and, in our opinion, much better suited to opera than to lieder singing in which he tended to overwhelm the material.  He is really a stage animal! He was very severe with Cherubino in his "Non più andrai". We felt his pain when he thought Susanna was cheating on him with the Count. 

Another surprise was the performance of Francisco Corredor in the role of Don Basilio. We know Mr. Corredor as a "character tenor" and always enjoy his comedic skills.  But last night he was given the serenade "Ecco ridente in cielo"  in which Almaviva, disguised as Lindoro, sings to Rosina in Il Barbiere. This was interpolated as a flashback to illustrate how the Count's affections had waned. Mr. Corredor sang it quite well.

As Cherubino, mezzo-soprano Sophie Delphis was engaging. The scene in which Susanna and the Countess undress "him" was just a bit racier than usual and unusually well handled. We can think of no more delightful mezzo arias than "Non so piu" and "Voi che sapete".  We wished we had an instant replay button!

Bass Colin Whiteman made an excellent blustery Bartolo who softened at the end of the opera when he admitted that he loved Marcellina, a non-singing role taken by actor Paola Michelini, representing all servants everywhere.  In Ms. Ligorio's telling of the tale, the entire issue of Figaro's origins was avoided and the reason Marcellina backed out of her resistance to Figaro's marriage to Susanna was that she didn't want to marry him, she wanted to marry Bartolo.

If you are intensely devoted to the original story, this might have bothered you, but we were content to go along with all the plot changes and enjoyed ourself immensely.

The scene that the audience seemed to enjoy the most was the ensemble from the end of Act I of Il Barbiere-- "Fredda ed immobile, come una statua";  In this case Bartolo was knocked out on the floor. 

The chamber orchestra was conducted by the renowned Sesto Quatrini, protégé of Fabio Luisi and now appointed Principal Conductor of Bare Opera, which makes us very happy. His arrangement for a dozen instruments worked exceptionally well with Music Director Laetitia Ruccolo at the piano and Victoria Wolf Lewis as Concertmaster.

What impressed us was how well integrated was the music of Rossini and that of Mozart. The two operas were separated by 27 years with the Mozart premiering in 1786 and the Rossini in 1813. An audience member untutored in music would never have noticed any disjunction, so seamlessly was the music blended.

The excellent titles were devised by Technical Director George Del Barrio and the costumes were designed by Raxann Chin--simple modern street attire adorned with jackets of the historical period.

The action was staged in several areas of a large warehouse so that no set changes were needed. The audience was seated in two areas at right angles to each other so that sight lines were good. The orchestra was behind one of the seating areas which worked well.

If you love Mozart, see it!  If you love Rossini, see it!  If you love a good time, see it!

(c) meche kroop

GOING FOR BAROQUE

Emily Hughes and Adria Caffaro (photo by Brian Long)

Joyce Yin (photo by Brian Long)

Last night we attended the final performance of Francesco Cavalli's l651 opera La Calisto, presented by Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble and directed most imaginatively by Brittany Goodwin, one of New York's most gifted young directors. We were amazed by the endurance of so many aspects of love that have remained unchanged in nearly four centuries.


The playing area was filled with nymphs and satyrs, gods and goddesses--strange figures to be sure; and yet their concerns are our concerns today.  The social media generation did not invent unfulfilled romantic longing, sexual dalliances overcoming chaste intentions, rejection, cross-dressing, lesbian love, romantic deception, nor vengeful wives. There was something particularly thrilling about seeing ourselves onstage in a work dating back nearly four centuries.  Not just thrilling but moving as well. Love and sex will always be with us until the robots take over!

It is difficult to believe that this marvelous work lay dormant until 1970.  How fortunate we are that it was discovered and revived.  It lets us in on what the mid 17th c. Venetians expected from a rather new popular art form. Cavalli was there at the birth of opera.

Impresario/librettist Giovanni Faustini had created many operas with Cavalli; this one was their penultimate production. The story was derived from Ovid's Metamorphosis and recounts the story of Jove pretending to be the goddess Diana in order to seduce the beautiful chaste Calisto. The tale is padded out with the love story between the real Diana and the shepherd Endimione. In every case, chastity falls under the weight of sexual desire. 

The wily Mercurio (fine tenor Brady DelVecchio) convinces Giove (authoritative baritone Mason Jarboe) that persuasion is no match for deception when trying to seduce a woman. Their duet was musically gorgeous and also quite humorous. 

In the title role, lovely soprano Emily Hughes  sang about wanting to lead a chaste life, devoted to the goddess Diana.  Giove transforms himself into Diana (beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Adria Caffaro) and successfully seduces her. The two women had a tender duet before entering a cave to exchange chaste kisses (which led to much more).

When the real Diana appears her voice and gestures are very different and there is no doubt that she is the real thing. When Calisto refers to their makeout session, Diana is outraged by the inference and tosses Calisto out of the virginal sisterhood. 

Ms. Caffaro successfully used vocal coloration and altered her gestures and body movements so successfully that, although Calisto was fooled, we in the audience were not.

Diana, on her part, is secretly in love with the shepherd Endimione (counter-tenor Padraic Costello) who expresses his longing for her in the most exquisite aria.

The superb soprano Joyce Yin (Co-Founder of Cantanti Projects) provided comic relief in her portrayal of Linfea, one of Diana's followers, who longs for romance. In spite of her desperation, there is no way Linfea is going to settle for the importuning of Satirino (the fine mezzo-soprano Shawn Palmer, sporting a blue wig, goat horns and hooves), even though he tells her that he is young but his tail is still growing!  He is a member of the clutch of satyrs, of which the leader is the god Pane, portrayed by counter-tenor Raymond Storms. As Silvano, one of the satyrs, bass-baritone Angky Budiardjono turned in a fine and physical performance with secure vocalism.

Act II brought on new delights as Giunone, the jealous wife of Giove, appears to expose her husband's infidelity.  Mezzo-soprano Sophie Delphis gave her all to the revenge aria in which she instructs women not to put up with philandering husbands but rather to take revenge.  Her particular revenge is to transform Calisto into a bear. Giove cannot undo this curse but finds his beloved Calisto a place in the firmament as the constellation Ursa Major, a condition foretold in the Prologue.

Mezzo-soprano Allison Gish portrayed La Natura in the Prologue, with soprano Elyse Kakacek taking the role of L'Eternita and mezzo-soprano Jingye Xu appearing as Il Destino who convinces the other two that Calisto deserves her place in the heavens. The women also appeared as The Furies.

Cavalli's music is very singable and  a small chamber orchestra, such as was heard in its own time, did full justice to Cavalli's writing, led by the renowned Early Music specialist Charles Weaver who played theorbo, lute and Baroque guitar. The chamber orchestra also included two violins, a cello, harpsichord and a second theorbo.

Costume Designer Claire Townsend did much with little, relying on creativity rather than a huge budget. The costumes were fanciful and fun.  A fur coat with ears on the hood served as a bear costume. Most magnificent of all was Giunone's black and white costume with elaborate red tulle headdress which reminded us of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.

Satyrs had fur on their boots along with horns and tails. The Furies had big hoop skirts draped with black chiffon. Giove wore a suit and tie with fabric design of white clouds on blue background. Mercurio wore a pink suit with little golden wings on the heels of his shoes. Calisto's final costume was embellished with stars.

Diana wore a simple white gown whilst her followers wore funky garments with white knee-high stockings.

The set design by You-Shin Chen was simple, utilizing the same ramp seen in The Cunning Little Vixen. White columns were created with fabric hanging from the ceiling which could also be gathered and hoisted.

This was another fine entry in Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's Summer Festival. There was a lot of wisdom in their choices of material--lesser known works that flowered under fine direction and casting. The emerging artists selected for this intense program of mentorship are to be applauded for their commitment to the art. 

(c) meche kroop