A CORNUCOPIA OF GOODIES

Nathan Milholin and Andy Berry in a scene from Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges"

We always count on the Santa Fe Opera for five glorious operas every summer, but the highlight of our visit remains the two evening of Apprentice Scenes. The young singers of the Apprentice Program (established in 1957 and flourishing under the guidance of Artistic Director David Holloway) enjoy a summer of training and performance experience--in smaller roles, in Susanne Sheston's superbly rehearsed chorus, and on two Sundays the experience of performing in a selection of scenes--fully staged and costumed with piano accompaniment. Notably, the Santa Fe Opera was the first company in the United States to have established such a program.

The choice of scenes ranges far and wide, from opera house standards to rarities to new works. Last night, as usual, we had our favorites and some head-scratchers. But regardless of the choice of material we found the performances to be vocally and dramatically worthwhile.

For all around entertainment value, our first choice was Ravel's "L'heure espagnole", directed by Omer Ben Seadia. We have only seen this opera once since it is rarely performed, but it is filled with French farce type humor, dealing as it does with a cuckolded clockmaker and his wayward wife. His unanticipated homecoming necessitates the hiding of his wife's lovers inside some of the grandfather clocks in the shop. As the cuckolded clockmaker, tenor Adam Bonanni had just the right sound for the part and was helped in his humorous presentation by the costume design of Jean-Luc DeLadurantaye--that of a pagliaccio--or Pierrot.

Mezzo-soprano Anne Marie Stanley was delightful as the wayward wife. Her three lovers were excellently portrayed by baritone Brian Vu in full toreador regalia, tenor Stephen Carroll, and bass-baritone Nathan Milholin who had quite a time extricating himself from his hiding place. Their congo line dance just added to the fun.

The Ping-Pang-Pong scene from Puccini's Turandot always provides some comic relief and speaks to us as the plaint of Everyman, who would love to escape his job and retire to the country. Director Kathleen Clawson directed a pleasingly traditional scene of the three functionaries of Ancient China, men who never know whether to plan for a funeral or a wedding. Resplendent in authentic Mandarin costumes (designed by Brenda Birkeland), baritone Dogukan Kuran and tenors Eric Ferring and Andrew Maughan passed the vocal ball back and forth in a highly entertaining fashion. It was a true treat.

The previous night's Lucia di Lammermoor left us in a Donizetti mood and we were glad to see a scene from L'elisir d'amore on the program. Director Crystal Manich's decision to update the action to the ugly 1950's and to change the setting to a soda parlor robbed the scene of the intended impact.  Poor Nemorino was obliged to get intoxicated by an ice cream soda in place of the requisite wine of Dr. Dulcamara; this just didn't make dramatic sense to anyone who knows the opera.

But tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli (just reviewed as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor) has a real flair for Donizetti and shone in the role, in spite of the ice cream soda! A clever directorial touch was having him bang the keys of the cash register in time with the music. Soprano Abigail Rethwisch made a lovely Adina, deftly conveying the ambivalence she feels toward Nemorino and the crack in her resistance. Baritone Christopher Kenney successfully created the role of the blustery Belcore and sang in rich full tone.

Rienzi will never be our favorite Wagnerian opera but we definitely enjoyed hearing tenor Stephen Martin (just reviewed as Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor) sing the title role with authoritative colors and stage presence. As his sister Irene, soprano Tracy Cantin impressed us with her fine singing but Amanda Clark's unflattering wig failed to score. In the trouser role of Adriano we heard mezzo-soprano Hannah Hagerty.  We enjoyed the trio which closed the scene for the tasteful blending of voices. For some strange reason, this tale of 14th c. Rome was updated by director Crystal Manich to something approximating the early 20th c.

Giuseppi Verdi put in an appearance by virtue of a scene from Un ballo in maschera, effectively directed by Susan Payne. One doesn't expect to hear young voices tackle Verdi but soprano Kasia Borowiec showed promise in the role of Amelia with Jorge Espino taking the role of the very angry Renato. The two men initiating the plot to assassinate the Duke, Sam and Tom, were played respectively by bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen and baritone Andy Berry. The duet between Renato and Amelia was most affecting but the final quintet was imperfectly balanced. Soprano Joanna Latini sang the role of Oscar with beautiful tone; a bit more attention to accuracy with the short notes would have made it perfect.

The scene from Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream was peculiarly staged by Mr. Seadia. The scene involves the romantic misadventures of Shakespeare's four young lovers lost in a forest near Athens. Here, they are in something resembling a dormitory with four beds and in various stages of undress (costumes by Ruby L. Rojas). Fortunately, the fine singing made up for the strange and distracting setting. The performances were quite physical and succeeded in conveying the Bard's sense of humor. 

Mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi impressed us with her vocalism in the part of Hermia; she doesn't know what to do with all that unexpected male attention. Soprano Adelaide Baedecker made a fine Helena, suffering the loss of love of her Lysander (tenor Jesse Darden) with baritone Thaddeus Ennen completing the quartet in the role of Demetrius.

Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges was staged by Susan Payne as the fairytale it is. Prokofiev's music for the scene begins with some insistent chords and the stage was dominated by a large multi-colored proscenium arch. Morgen Warner's costumes were appropriately fantastical. The problem was that the scene did not offer the young singers much opportunity to show off their vocal skills. That being said, we did enjoy the humor and fantasy. Mr. Berry made a magical magician in his golden cape, and bass-baritone Nathan Milholin was funny with his feathered fan. Mr. Maughan made a fine Prince, strangely attired in a night shirt; Mr. Darden portrayed the Prince's companion Truffaldino attired in a suit.

We cannot say too much about the scene from Paul Moravec's The Shining. We found the music lacking in the very qualities that make us want to listen, and the scene itself did not hold our interest. Baritone Kenneth Stavert sang the role of an ex-alcoholic starting a new life in a boiler room.  Mr. Carroll portrayed a ghost in the hotel. The libretto did not strike us as singable. We did enjoy Mr. Carroll in L'heure espagnole and hope to get another opportunity to hear Mr. Stavert in music kinder to our ears.

It was a fun evening and we find ourselves trying to anticipate which of these promising artists will thrive in their professional careers and return to the Santa Fe Opera stage.

(c) meche kroop

MAD FOR THE MAD SCENE

Soprano Brenda Rae as Lucia and Santa Fe Apprentices in Donizetti's Lucia de Lamermoor (photo by Ken Howard)

Another brilliant evening at the Santa Fe Opera brought to us another compelling heroine--the fragile and vulnerable Lucia portrayed by the brilliant soprano Brenda Rae who impressed us four years ago as Violetta. What a stunning contrast with last night's Alcina, a heroine who is manipulative and deceitful! Lucia is a an unfortunate young woman who wants nothing more than to wed her beloved Edgardo, sung by terrific tenor Mario Chang who has also impressed us in the past five years since we began writing  www.vocedimeche.reviews. Mr. Chang made an exceptional Edgardo, gathering impact as the evening progressed. His final scene was heartbreaking.

In Salvadore Cammarano's libretto, based on a work by Sir Walter Scott, poor Lucia is thwarted by her desperate brother Enrico, whose political future, and perhaps his life, hang upon his establishing a relationship with Lord Arturo Bucklaw; Baritone Zachary Nelson (about whom we have also been writing for about five years) lent his forceful stage presence and rich voice to the role. Lucia becomes a pawn in this political intrigue and is manipulated into signing a contract of marriage with Lord Bucklaw, here portrayed by a promising member of the Apprentice Program--Carlos Santelli, who has a pleasing, if somewhat covered sound. 

Obviously, this cannot end well! Indeed, by the end of the opera, Lucia has died of a broken heart, Arturo has been murdered on his wedding night, Edgardo commits suicide by grabbing Enrico's dagger, and Enrico will probably suffer the ignominious defeat of one who falls out of favor with the court.

What makes Gaetano Donizetti's opera such a favorite is the theme of a woman's suffering at the hands of men, the torrent of tunes that fell from Donizetti's pen, and the opportunity to hear a favorite soprano unravel to the accompaniment of the eerie sound of a glass harmonica, here played by international expert Friedrich Heinrich Kern. (Thanks Benjamin Franklin for this amazing invention!) The lengthy mad scene requires the casting of a soprano of prodigious coloratura skills-- but the rest of the opera requires her to arouse our sympathy. To this end, Ms. Rae succeeded admirably on both counts. It was a riveting performance that completely deserved the standing ovation at the end of the performance.

Also notable was bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Raimondo the Chaplain and apprentice Stephen Martin as Normanno, Captain of the Guard, who takes the rap for Lucia's death by virtue of having exposed her illicit romance with Edgardo of Ravenswood, her brother's arch enemy.

One of the great pleasures of the Santa Fe Opera is witnessing the rise of the apprentice singers. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit captured our notice when she sang the role of Laurene Jobs in a preview of The (R)Evolution of Steve Jobs which we attended in NYC at Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum.  Last night she sang the role of Lucia's companion Alisa and she sang it with superb vocal resources and appropriate deference to Ms. Rae.

Maestro Corrado Rovaris, a notable bel canto expert, led the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra which sounded superb, as always. We thought that his somewhat accelerated tempi for the first act was a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it increased the sense of urgency in the plot; on the other hand, we missed the sense of spaciousness he provided for the singers in the second act.

All of the singers impressed us with their musicality of phrasing; the variations of dynamics and tempi as well as vocal coloration indicated the presence of true artistry. The vocal blending in the sextet (when Edgardo crashes the wedding celebration) could not have been better and was second only to the mad scene in its ability to astonish us with the writing of Donizetti and the performances of the singers.

Also noteworthy were the confrontational duets between Mr. Nelson and Mr. Chang--two powerful artists matching artistry with equivalent artistry.

Director Ron Daniels went for a minimalist approach, such a contrast with last night's overcooked Alcina. He set the opera at the time Donizetti composed it--thankfully not in contemporary times. The principals seemed well directed toward sustaining dramatic verisimilitude but the chorus seemed static, standing in rows and moving rather mechanically and in unison. We take issue with Lucia visiting her brother in his bedroom; it just seemed inappropriately informal. And it bothered us that Lucia's hallucinations were invisible to the audience whilst Edgardo's dying hallucination was presented onstage.  However, it was indeed a gorgeous image of Ms. Rae looking pure and heavenly!

The chorus, comprising the Santa Fe Apprentices and under the fine direction of Susanne Sheston, sang with similar superb musicianship and well-defined diction. We expect no less!

Riccardo Hernandez' set design was also minimalistic. The walls and ceiling comprised square panels done in skewed perspective that emphasized the feeling of claustrophobia that Lucia must have felt. The fateful fountain at which Lucia hallucinates a ghost was a fluorescent plastic tub of water. There was nothing great about the great hall in which the wedding ceremony took place. Edgardo's room was nothing but a chair and tiny table with a lamp. This simplicity is not a bad thing but another double-edged sword in that it allowed us to focus more on the performances than on the background.

Peter Negrini's projections overlay the walls with images of forests. Effective lighting was by Christopher Akerlind.

Emily Rebholz' costume design worked very well for the women who wore muted ball gowns to the wedding, as one would expect among the Scottish aristocracy. But the men at the ball were dressed in white tie and tails and not sporting kilts or the colors of their clan, which we have come to expect. The men looked more authentic in the first act, wearing dark clothes trimmed in fur.

The ball scene also included some dancing, choreographed by Zack Winokur, which was vaguely "folk" but markedly un-Scottish.

We left at the end of the opera feeling fulfilled on all counts, but especially that of witnessing the success of former apprentices.  We hope to find Ms. Coit, Mr. Santelli, and Mr. Martin following in their footsteps within the next five years!

(c) meche kroop