THE FINEST PEARL

Evan Lazdowski, Shantal Martin, Juan Lázaro, Thomas Muraco, Sungah Baek, Laureano Quant, and Esteban Zuniga .   


Conductor/collaborative pianist/coach/educator Thomas Muraco has been on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music for a quarter of a century and we have lost count of how many operas he has conducted for the MSM Opera Repertoire Ensemble; but we haven't forgotten how much we have enjoyed them. His attention to musical detail is highly impressive and his hands are highly expressive.  No baton needed!

Last night he conducted Bizet's 1863 opera Les Pêcheurs de Perles (composed when Bizet was but 25 years old) in a reduction of the score for two pianos, four hands devised by Sungah Baek. Those twenty fingers, belonging to Ms. Baek and Juan José Lázaro, simply flew over the keys and brought out voices we had totally overlooked in orchestral performances. Sitting "up close and personal", certain aspects of the superficially silly libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré began to make psychological sense, thanks to some astute direction by A. Scott Parry.

The absence of sets and costumes (save for Léïla's white dress and exotic veiled headpiece) allowed us to focus on the music. Anyone who has attended voice competitions would be familiar with "Au fond du temple saint", the deliciously harmonic duet sung by the tenor and the baritone early in Act I. The tenor's soliloquy "Je crois entendre encore" is often heard as well.

However, the score offers several more treats worthy of audition or competition pieces, highlighting the singer's expressiveness. We were highly impressed with the authoritative performance of baritone Laureano Quant who created the character of a tragic hero undone by jealousy but redeemed through generosity. At the conclusion of the opera, Zuniga sacrifices his own life to allow his old friend Nadir to escape the funeral pyre, along with the temple priestess whom they both love.

Mr. Quant's rich round tone filled out his song of remorse "L'orage est calmé" which paralleled the subsiding of the storm endured by the villagers-- who believe that the betrayal of Léïla is responsible. He refuses Léïla's request for mercy in "Je suis jaloux" but changes his mind when he sees the deus ex machina necklace that he had bestowed upon her years earlier when she saved his life. All these changes of emotion were reflected in Mr. Quant's phrasing and coloration. It was a masterful and memorable performance.

As Léïla, soprano Shantal Martin was convincing in her acting and excellent in her command of the vocal line. Her conflict was between spiritual duties that she had promised to execute faithfully and her lust/love rekindled by Nadir from a prior period in their lives. Ms. Martin conveyed Léïla's weakness of character without sacrificing vocal strength. She was particularly fine in the melismatic passages that amounted to a gorgeous vocalise. Her voice soared in the upper register making us almost forget that she's a "bad girl".

Nadir is a "bad boy" as well. He has betrayed his friend Zurga in an earlier period, after the two of them had promised to preserve their friendship by giving up their love for the tempting Léïla. As portrayed by tenor Esteban Zuniga, he appears sly, shifty, sneaky, and aware of his guilt. As a matter of fact (or opinion) we thought Mr. Zuniga overacted a bit with an excess of mugging. Sometimes less is more! Mr. Zuniga's light tenor seemed suitable for bel canto opera. He harmonized beautifully with Ms. Martin in their Act II duet, and also in Act III as they faced death.

Evan Lazdowski used his fine bass instrument successfully in the role of the High Priest Nourabad. His character is dour, suspicious, stern and forbidding as one might expect. The unfamiliar ending (from an 1886 revival) has him stabbing Zurga to death. Mr. Quant succeeded in making Zurga a sympathetic character but he did set fire to his village so we guess he deserved his fate.

Particularly noteworthy was the excellent French diction, coached by Elsa Quéron. We did not even need the titles; every word was clear.

Also noteworthy was the performance of the chorus. They sang well and added the necessary backdrop for the drama.

There is a matinée performance at 2:30 on Sunday and we urge you to attend. Although the cast will be different, the music will be the same. We found a great deal of aural enchantment in the repetitive Oriental motifs.

(c) meche kroop

COSI FA MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

José Maldonado, Victoria Crutchfield, Thomas Muraco, Shaina Martinez, WooYoung Yoon, Polixeni Tziouvaras, Dongwei Shen, Sungah Baek, and Juan Lázaro

When Tom Muraco puts on an opera, you tend to show up out of FOMO.  To miss one would leave you feeling cheated out of a predictably delightful experience. The operas are astutely chosen, the talented students are wisely cast, and the bare bones style of production allows one to focus on the music. In this case, we had an intense exposure to Mozart's masterpiece of romantic entanglement--Cosi fan tutte.

Maestro Muraco himself conducted and the score for two pianos and harpsichord continuo (actually an electronic keyboard) was devised by the three keyboard artists themselves--Sungah Baek, Juan Lázaro, and Yixin Tan. The three did a great job and we were able to hear compositional elements that we missed when the work was presented with full orchestra. Actually, we think we heard more music.  Could it be that some music that is generally cut was restored?  Or did our ears deceive us? There is enough music in this opera for two operas!

The students of Manhattan School of Music are as fond of Maestro Muraco as we are. We sat next to the podium as he conducted and can attest to the fact that he knows every word in the libretto and every note of the score. His love for music and for his students was equally obvious.

As Don Alfonso, the older cynic who sets the crazy plot in motion, José Maldonado might have stolen the show, were the other artists not as fine as they were. His huge Falstaffian presence and voice, augmented by seemingly natural dramatic chops, created a real character. Every glance and wry smile, every barb carried weight.

His partner in crime, the wily Despina was performed by soprano Yesul Yeon whose slender voice was well focused and whose comic chops matched those of Mr. Maldonado. Her featured aria "Una donna a quindici anni" was very well done. We loved the way she exaggerated the rolling of her "r"s.

Since the theme of Lorenzo da Ponte's libretto was fiancé swapping, the opera requires four engaging singers that we can care about, even while laughing at their puerility. As Fiordiligi we had the shining soprano Shaina Martinez who successfully negotiated the wild skips of "Come scoglio". Legend has it that Mozart wrote it thus to make the soprano he disliked bob her head like a chicken, due to the way she sang high and low notes!

As her sister, we heard marvelous mezzo-soprano Polixeni Tziouvaras, who did herself credit in her aria "Smanie implacabili".  Mozart made sure that each singer had an aria. Her voice harmonized beautifully with that of Ms. Martinez, especially in "Prenderó quel brunettino". Mozart made sure that there were also plenty of duets, trios, quartets, etc.

Tenor WooYoung Yoon has a pleasant ringing tenor and created a fine Ferrando; we enjoyed his voice most in "Tradito, schernito"; he had some splendid duets with baritone Dongwei Shen who excelled as Guglielmo. His aria "Donne mie, la fate a tanti" was beautifully rendered in all of its angst. The voices of the two men blended as successfully as those of the women.

One of our favorite ensemble pieces, "Soave sia il vento" was gorgeously sung by Mr. Maldonado, Ms. Martinez and Ms. Tziouvaras. We could not have been more pleased with the musical elements.

But what about the production elements.  As we indicated, this is a bare bones production and Director Victoria Crutchfield did well for the most part in the interactions among the singers. We loved the way the chorus (all excellent, by the way) moved the "furniture" (just a bench, a table, and some chairs) with Despina in charge, pounding the floor to summon the furniture movers for a scene change, which always seemed to involve lifting things over her head.

Our only quibble was with a few anachronisms. Probably to avoid the cost of costuming, the action seems to have been moved to the present, what with the cell phones and contemporary clothing. So why did the women carry 18th c. parasols?  The "Albanians" became "hipsters from Williamsburg and Tribeca".  Anyone from New York would know that Tribeca is populated by very wealthy Wall Streeters. You'd be hard pressed to find a hipster there.  Better to have used Bed-Stuy or Bushwick.

For those of us who understand Italian, hearing one thing and seeing titles saying something else creates a momentary lapse of concentration and involvement. A "brunettino" is a man with dark hair, NOT a man in spectacles! These disjunctions are occurring more and more as operas are squeezed into time periods that do not fit.

Minor criticisms aside, it was a fun evening and made us realize that we have more in common with the 18th c. Viennese than with the 19th c. audience which found this opera vulgar and scandalous.

There will be a repeat performance on Sunday matinée with a different but presumably equally talented cast.

(c) meche kroop