LILI ELBE

Melanie Bacaling, Tobias Picker, and Aryeh Lev Stollman

Sylvia D'Eramo and Lucia Lucas

The spacious and comfortable theater at The Guggenheim Museum is the perfect home for Works & Process. The format is one of panel discussion alternating with performance. It allows audience members to get a preview of upcoming artistic events as described by their creators and illustrated by performances. One gets a glimpse behind the scenes, as it were.

Last night's event provided a panel discussion by the creators of a new opera Lili Elbe--composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman--moderated by Melanie Bacaling. Scenes from the opera were presented concert style by Lucia Lucas and Sylvia D'Eramo who are cast in the American premiere of the opera taking place on August 1st at the Santa Fe Opera. Although the scenes belonged to the two women, we had the opportunity to hear the terrific tenor Aaron Blake as well.

The subject of the opera is a German painter named Einar who transitioned to a female, a real "first" a century ago. What a courageous act that must have been! Increasingly common today and no longer called "sex reassignment surgery", it is now, to be politically correct, called  "gender affirming surgery".  Upon this topic we will not comment.

Now called Lili, the painter stopped painting but remained friends with his/her wife, underwent several surgeries and eventually died from complications of one of the surgeries, the details of which, Dear Reader, we will spare you. The story is a fascinating one and was made into a film which we plan to see in the near future. The fact that the role of Einar/Lili was played by a man provoked a wave of criticism.

No such criticism can be leveled at the opera because the role of Lili is played by a trans woman baritone named Lucia Lucas who also served as dramaturg, apparently making good use of her own experience. And what a strong voice she has. It had the same electrifying effect on us as hearing a man singing soprano or counter-tenor. The role of Gerda, the wife of Einar/Lili, was sung by Sylvia D'Eramo, a Santa Fe Opera favorite whom we have previously reviewed and much admired. The two voices sounded beautifully balanced and interesting in the duets.

The presentation last night aroused our curiosity and we have spent some time reading about this unusual individual's life experience. We can see that it is fine fodder for the theater and film. But what about its relevance to opera? Its European premiere took place last year in St. Gallen, Switzerland and was very well received and honored with prizes. The staging we saw in a You Tube clip from this production looked far more interesting than we might have imagined given what was offered last night. When there is no staging, no costumes and no drama, one must rely on the music.

And there's the rub! Like most contemporary composers, vocal lines are given short shrift and our ears leaned into the piano score, replete with jazzy riffs and rhythmic variation. The conversational libretto was set to vocal lines of minimal melodic nature. If Lili's story needed music to be told, we would imagine something far different, although we do note that the music reflects the time period of the 1920's and 30's. But the story is not a jazzy one. It is a tragedy!

Consequently, we are curious to know what Santa Fe Opera will do with this work....but not curious enough to make the trip.

© meche kroop

MUSIC 10 --LOOKS 2

 Isabel Leonard and Michael Fabiano (photo by Curtis Brown for Santa Fe Opera)

Where are we? We are sitting in the Santa Fe Opera's lovely theater, wishing we were being transported to Seville in the 19th c., the world created by Georges Bizet and librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (originally created by novelist Prosper Mérimée)--a world of gypsies, smugglers, and bull fights. But no, that is not going to happen. We can't tell where we are from a confusing set and ugly costumes. We are in the world of a misguided director who wants to tell a different story.  Of our beloved Carmen, only the "romantic" obsession remains and the good girl/bad girl dichotomy.

We were inspired to do a search of our reviews of every Carmen we have ever written about.  And there are dozens. Significantly, the last Carmen done by Santa Fe Opera was similarly egregious. The most affecting one we ever saw was performed by a small (now defunct) company in New York City. The most original one was presented by a psychoanalytic colleague whose concept it was to be interviewing Don Jose in prison, after the stabbing. His character was explored by means of flashbacks to various scenes of the opera.  It was original and illuminating. If you are going to have a concept, it better be cohesive and show us something new about the characters. This production was about as interesting and as believable as Lucia in overalls in the rustbelt of the United States, as presented by the Metropolitan Opera.

If one closed ones eyes, which we frequently needed to do, one was treated to some superb singing and a glorious reading of the score by Maestro Harry Bicket. The music moved right along with big dramatic orchestrations, as in the overture, alternating with gentle pianissimo lyricism, as in the introduction to Act III.

Poor mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, drably dressed in jeans and dun colored top gave her all to make sense of the character. She possesses a magnificent instrument which she uses skillfully throughout the entire range. She clearly worked hard to fulfill the director's requirements and to tell us something new about the eponymous heroine. In the 19th c. there was something shocking and fascinating about a woman who marched to her own tune. Set in contemporary times, it's just old hat.

Tenor Michael Fabiano sounded just fine as Don Jose but was perhaps directed to be particularly awkward with his body movements, leading us to speculate that Don Jose had some rare ailment that contributed to his unbalanced mental state.  His violence did not evolve gradually but was present right from his ungracious shoving of Micaëla as she tried to give him a kiss from his mother. 

Soprano Sylvia D'Eramo scored vocally with her Act III aria. Dressed in overalls, backpack, and Keds, she looked nothing like an innocent country girl although she did her best to act the part, contrasting with Ms. Leonard's worldly wise mien.

Four apprentices delighted us with their performances, seemingly removed from the intensity of the main story. Soprano Magdalena Kużma's Frasquita and mezzo-soprano Kathleen Felty's Mercédès made a fine pair and we enjoyed their card reading duet. Tenor Anthony Léon's Remendado  and baritone Luke Sutliff's Dancaire brought Act II to vivid life. The quintet with Ms. Leonard resisting their blandishments was one of the vocal highlights of the evening.

Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel was put in the ambiguous position of portraying Escamillo as a bullfighter in authentic dress, and also some kind of entertainer in a saloon pretending to be a bullfighter. Nonetheless, we enjoyed his singing of the Toreador Song.

Bass-baritone David Crawford was effective as Zuniga; Apprentice David Lekeith Drone sang the role of Morales; Omen Thomas Sade took the non-singing role of the famed Lilias Pastia.

A terpsichoreally challenged female child was onstage so much, for no apparent reason, that we were not surprised at the muttering of the woman sitting next to me, muttering we choose not to repeat. These constant appearances were most resented when they occurred during the big arias. How unforgivably distracting! Perhaps she is the offspring of a big donor. Why was she holding her ears during the overture? Why was she prancing around stage making odd faux flamenco moves with her arms and swishing her skirt? Whatever the director had in mind was lost on every audience member we spoke with or overheard in the ladies room during intermission.

French director Mariame Clément obviously comes from the European régie theatre school.  Silly us to think that opera is about singing that enhances logical story telling! Whatever happened to authenticity and honoring the intentions of the composer and librettist? We would beg directors to stop trashing the classics. Modern touches added to comedies are just misdemeanors but to ruin a tragedy is a felony.

Julia Hansen's set and costumes for Act I were not awful.  Just a bunch of soldiers on one side and a fenced in area on the other side, enclosing a yard for the cigarette factory workers to take their breaks. But things got progressively worse.  In Act II, there was something like a nightclub with what appeared to be a drag show onstage; but then appeared to be Frasquita and Mercedes in hideous garish costumes. And another smaller stage was wheeled on with Escamillo in full toreador costume singing his big aria.

Act IV was completely incomprehensible.  At first, the chorus of onlookers were waving flags behind a wooden barrier. So, it's a bullfight and we had no problem using our imagination to recreate the parade of chulos, picadors, and toreros that were being sung about.  But then the set became a garish amusement park with a ticket office with a sign reading "CAJA"--Spanish for cashier or box office--and the only sign that the action is supposed to be taking place in Spain. A lone merry-go-round horse witnessed the violence perpetrated by Don Jose on the complacent but defiant Carmen.

Not only were the characterizations impossible to fathom but the stage business frequently belied the text. Please don't sing about a rope and then produce handcuffs to restrain Carmen.

We could go on and on about the directorial  misjudgment but we would prefer to use the space to once again applaud the excellent chorus of apprentices, directed by Susanne Sheston.  The chorus has been a winning element throughout the season.

© meche kroop

A SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL FAREWELL TO SANTA FE OPERA APPRENTICES

Elliot Paige, Sunwoo Park, Hayan Kim, and Duke Kim

Our last night in Santa Fe always coincides with the second of two concerts of opera scenes starring the Santa Fe Opera Apprentices. All summer these talented young artists spend their time honing their skills, fulfilling small roles in the five regular productions, and finally getting two successive Sunday evenings to star in eight different scenes. This is truly the highlight of our year. We are familiar with some of these young artists--those who live in New York City or have participated in award recitals and concerts. What a thrill to witness their artistic growth!

Many of last night's scenes struck us as being culled from popular operas, but not necessarily the scenes we consider the "best" nor the ones with the most famous arias or duets. It was a fine opportunity to expand one's focus.

Take, for example, the scene depicted above, from Mozart's singspiel-- Die Entführung aus dem Serail. This was a golden opportunity to enjoy the comic antics of Elliot Paige portraying the servant Pedrillo who wants to share his love of wine with the reluctant Osmin. It was so much fun watching the stiff poker-faced William Meinert being converted to loyalty to Bacchus!

David Paul's direction was absolutely perfect. When the other characters entered, the focus shifted to the parallel relationships between Pedrillo and Blondchen (the adorable Sunwoo Park) and that of Konstanze (the beautiful Hayan Kim) with Belmonte  (the terrific tenor Duke Kim). The two men reveal their suspicions of what their sweethearts did with the Pasha; the women are hilariously offended. Darby Newsome's period costumes were just right. The voices were uniformly excellent and so was the acting. We couldn't keep from imagining how the audience of Mozart's day must have roared with laughter.

In terms of excellent voices, we enjoyed watching the first scene of Of Mice and Men. We greatly admired Bille Bruley's tenoriffic portrayal of the emotionally impaired and childlike Lennie, whose care was entrusted to the much put-upon George, portrayed by the full-voiced bass-baritone Tyler Zimmerman who limned all the ambivalent emotions of his character.

We thrilled to their valid characterizations but not to the rather tuneless writing of Carlisle Floyd. Steinbeck's prose didn't need Floyd's music, but we couldn't help thinking what the prose might have sounded like in the hands of a Broadway composer; they seem to know better how to create melody.

The scene chosen from Donizetti's Lucia de Lammermoor was the one in which Enrico (baritone Benjamin Taylor) bullies his sister Lucia into being a political pawn to restore him to power. Soprano Jana McIntyre, costumed by Naomi Beetlestone Detre in a stunning red riding coat, sang and acted with great intensity, countering her bother's physical violence with some blows of her riding crop, making it the most brutal iteration of the scene that we have ever witnessed. Kudos to Paul Curran for his fine direction and to tenor Ricardo Garcia for his nasty Normanno.

The scene chosen from Verdi's Falstaff involved some excellent ensemble work. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarian made a fine Meg Page, comparing letters with her friend Anne Ford (soprano Ann Toomey)--both of whom were being courted by Sir John Falstaff. Also on hand was mezzo-soprano Kathleen Reveille as Dame Quickly as well as the young lovers Nanetta (Ms. Park) and Fenton (Mr. Garcia)--all splendid in their performances.

Mr. Curran directed the scene as a French farce with women ducking behind the laundry on stage right and the jealous husband Ford (baritone Jarrett Logan Porter) accompanied by Doctor Caius (Mr. Bruley), Pistola (Mr. Zimmerman), and Bardolfo (tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro) entered stage left. We loved everything about the scene except for the 1950's costumes. We fail to understand the penchant for translating operas into the 50's.  We suppose Maggie Drake was inspired by the production at the Metropolitan Opera.

In the Humperdinck opera, soprano Sylvia d'Eramo made an adorable Gretel whilst mezzo Gillian Lynn Cotter portrayed her brother Hansel very convincingly. Their respective voices balanced well. In the scene chosen the siblings are alone in the woods and comforted by the Sandman (Hayan Kim). Costumes by John Polles were most attractive and suitable.

A few years ago we saw Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazona and enjoyed both the story and the music, the vocal line of which was sung in Spanish. We were delighted to have our memory refreshed by the scene in which an unhappy couple are playing cards with journalist Rosalba (soprano Danielle Beckvermit) and the captain's nephew Arcadio (tenor Eric Taylor). The unhappiness of Paula (mezzo-soprano Kaitlyn McMonigle) and Alvaro (bass-baritone Andrew Moore) was expressively sung and in fine contrast with the apparent innocence of the younger folk.

Puccini's Tosca was represented by the first scene in which bass Cory McGee convincingly portrayed a desperate Angelotti, recently escaped from prison and seeking refuge in the church. Tenor Justin Stolz took the role of Mario Cavaradossi and bass-baritone Alan Higgs stole the scene as a very funny Sacristan. Mr. Higgs has a real gift for creating an individual character, as observed last week when he enacted the Mayor in Jenufa.

The evening ended with a jolly piece of fluff which seemed designed to send the audience out in a cheerful mood. From Kurt Weill's Street Scene, we enjoyed the scene in which Lippo Fiorentino (tenor Angel Romero) brings ice cream cones for his neighbors to enjoy and sings a paean to ice cream. The role of his wife was sung by Ms. Beckvermit, with the role of neighbors taken by baritone Ian Burns, Ms. McMonigle, bass Brent Michael Smith, and baritone Will Hughes. The ensemble work was flawless.

We can scarcely wait for next year's Apprentice Recitals and hope to hear once more some of these excellent young artists.  Bravi tutti!

(c) meche kroop

BLEAK HOUSE

Laura Wilde (Jenůfa), Gina Perregrino (Herdswoman), Katherine Beck (Karolka), Kathleen Reveille (Mayor’s Wife), and Richard Trey Smagur (Števa Buryja) (Photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera)

Contemporaneous with Puccini, Leoš Janáček wrote a very sad opera about sin and redemption in a small Moravian village; Jenüfa premiered in1904 after six years of compositional labor; it would not be heard in the composer's original version for seventy years. This is one of the first "prose" operas.

The grim story deals with issues of unrequited love, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, fraternal envy, violence, and infanticide. The eponymous heroine (soprano Laura Wilde) is in love with the fickle Števa (tenor Richard Trey Smagur) and is carrying his child. His half-brother Laca (tenor Alexander Lewis) is envious of Števa's favored position in the family and is jealous of Števa's relatioship with Jenufa. How this all works out is a gripping story.

Two elements pleased us even before attending the performance. Firstly, the opera is sung in Czech; this is a difficult language but every time we hear it sung we are impressed by how wedded are word and vocal line. Janácek wrote the libretto himself so this element is particularly important.

Secondly, the opera has been cast with singers we know and love, some of whom we heard last year as Santa Fe Apprentices, others we know from conservatories in New York or from competitions.

One of the hallmarks of a great production is that one can identify with the characters and care about them. The fact that the piece was updated to the mid-20th c. did not detract from its impact. This story might even take place today in a small town gripped by religious fundamentalism.

The eponymous Jenufa has been captivated by a man of poor character who seduces her and abandons her when her face has been disfigured. Who could not identify with an innocent young woman who falls for a narcissistic man! Soprano Laura Wilde (once an 
apprentice at Santa Fe Opera) used her generous instrument and agile body to create a Jenufa we could really care about. The dénouement of the drama finds her accepting her fate and possibly finding happiness with Laca. All of the emotions she experienced were revealed through vocal coloration and body language---anticipation, joy, anxiety, despair, grief, forgiveness, and reconciliation. What a stunning performance!

As Kostelnička, soprano Patricia Racette turned in a highly memorable performance. The intensity of her vocal expression and the measured use of vibrato made her a sympathetic monster. Under the stress of living in a religious community as the widow of the church warden, her experience of shame over her step-daughter's pregnancy and her efforts to find the best for Jenufa clashed with her religious beliefs; her desperate act left her feeling sick and guilty. Ms. Racette made her climactic realization --how she loved herself more than others -- convincing evidence of her emotional growth.

As the rascal Števa, tenor Richard Trey Smagur (well remembered from his Apprentice performances) created a character imbued with childish narcissism, caring only for his own desires--drinking and philandering. Whilst Jenufa was grieving he was busy courting the daughter of the Mayor. Mr. Smagur created a thoroughly detestable character but sang so well we were ready to forgive him anything. Additionally, he has a compelling stage presence that dominated the stage.

Tenor Alexander Lewis, whom we haven't heard in a few years, sounded terrific as Laca. Sulking around the stage as a grievance collector when the opera opens, he explodes with anger and slashes Jenufa's face. By the end of the opera he has matured emotionally; forgiven by Jenufa, he seems prepared to make a good husband for her. All of these emotions were made clear by Mr. Lewis, both in his vocal coloration and in his posture.

We enjoyed the performance of baritone Will Liverman, also a former Apprentice at Santa Fe Opera. His character was the foreman of the mill which Števa inherited and had the task of announcing the fact that Števa had not been drafted. His voice always lends a sense of import.

Renowned mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, a Santa Fe resident, created the role of Grandmother Buryjovka, mother-in-law of Kostelnička, and a seemingly kind woman who can also swat her wayward grandson with her purse. She became increasingly frail during the three seasons in which the opera takes place

Several apprentices graced the stage with their presence in smaller roles. Alan Higgs gave a fine interpretation of the self-satisfied mayor with Kathleen Reveille creating the character of his wife---critical and all too ready to humiliate Jenufa. Their daughter Karolka was portrayed by Katherine Beck as the superficial flighty beauty that Števa was going to marry. The three of them just made sense as a family.

Making brief appearances but sounding great were Gina Perregrino, Sylvia D'Eramo, Jana McIntyre, Kaitlyn McMonigle, Danielle Beckvermit, and Benjamin Taylor.

The chorus of Apprentices appeared as townfolk and sounded sensational, as usual. We loved the folk dances choreographed by Maxine Braham.

Maestro Johannes Debus honored Janáček by revealing all the colors of his palette. Our esteem for this composer grows every time we hear his compositions. His writing underscores the action at every turn. We loved the duet between mother and step-daughter which seemed more tuneful than the writing for solo voice. When Kostelnička sends Jenufa to bed, the orchestral writing has the quality of a lullaby. Our favorite passages are almost always the most lyrical ones but last night we found much to love in the forceful and dramatic ones.

Director David Alden similarly honored the work. His direction put a lot of space between the characters which emphasized their loneliness and isolation. There wasn't much love in this family! Fortunately, there wasn't even a whiff of directorial arrogance. Alden wisely allowed the tale to speak for itself.

Charles Edwards' minimalist set design neither added nor detracted but it was stunningly lit by Duane Schuler, who created chiaroscuro effects with dramatic shadows on the walls. We liked the way the boarded up windows exploded when the boards were removed and a storm occurred, lending verisimilitude to the storm within the family.

Jon Morrell's costumes were a propos to a small European village in the mid-20th c.. The folk dancers were colorful and the family drab. The mayor's wife and daughter were more lavishly costumed as befit their lofty position in the local society.

Unfortunately, this was the last performance of the season so unless you have already attended you are out of luck. But there is plenty more artistry to look forward to. We are looking forward to tomorrow's La Bohême and the Sunday Apprentice recital.


(c) meche kroop

APPRENTICES RECITAL AT SANTA FE OPERA

Jarrett Logan Porter, Kaitlyn McMonigle, Elliot Paige, and Samantha Gossard (photo by Bobby Gutierrez for Santa Fe Opera)

Bille Bruley and Regina Ceragioli (photo by Bobby Gutierrez for Santa Fe Opera)

One of the very best parts of the Santa Fe experience is attending the Sunday night recitals of the Apprentice Singers. Chosen from among a huge pool of applicants, the current crop includes many young artists whose performances we have enjoyed in New York City, as well as some young artists we are discovering for the first time. Witnessing the artistic growth of the former is our delight; your delight would be catching these emerging talents before they are well known. 

It is astonishing to us that for a paltry $15, one can spend an entire evening in their company, seeing and hearing a well-chosen variety of scenes from all sorts of operas. There is indeed something for everyone, whatever your taste may be. Each scene is assigned to a director and is accompanied by a pianist. Singers who perform in the chorus or in small roles with the major productions here get to be center stage.

We attended the first of these recitals Sunday night and were impressed by a number of young voices. When a singer gets us to relate to an opera we don’t ordinarily favor, we know that something special is happening onstage.  Such was the case when tenor Bille Bruley performed excerpts from Act I of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. His truly remarkable dramatic skills complemented his fine vocalism, first in a scene with superb soprano Regina Ceragioli portraying Ellen Orford and then in a scene with Baritone Kenneth Stavert in the role of Captain Balstrade. Bruley’s exceptionalism was matched by both his scene partners who astonished us with their total immersion in their characters and their connection with Grimes, as well as with the audience.  The stage was bare except for a couple simple props, a wise choice by director Kathleen Clawson. Patrick Harvey did his part as accompanist. Hilary Rubio’s costumes were perfect. We were on the edge of our seat!

Another success of this type was that of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, another work which never held our attention.  In this case, also directed by Ms. Clawson and accompanied in jazzy style by Mr. Harvey, Mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard did a star turn as Dinah. All eyes were upon her as she described the ridiculous film she had just seen. Her terrific singing was accompanied by some wild and totally appropriate gestures. Preceding her scene, which took place in a bar, we enjoyed the lively trio of waitstaff, portrayed by mezzo-soprano Kaitlyn McMonigle, tenor Elliot Paige, and baritone Jarrett Logan Porter, who sang and danced their way into our heart. We also enjoyed baritone Michael J. Hawk as Sam. Kenan Burchette’s appropriate 1950’s costumes added to the fun.

Another performance that blew us away was that of contralto Leia Lensing who sang the role of Cornelia in Händel’s Giulio Cesare. Her scene partner was mezzo-soprano Hannah Hagerty in the role of Sesto and their parting duet was both effective and affecting. Clinton Smith played Händel’s music with superb style; James Robinson directed the scene with admirable simplicity and James Ramsay Arnold’s costumes were gorgeous.

Hector Berlioz’ Les Troyens has the most luscious love duet between Didon and Énée, so beautifully played by pianist Francesco Milioto, accompanying the beautiful mezzo-soprano  Siena Licht Miller and tenor Terrence Chin-Loy. Magnificently costumed by Brighid DeAngelis with stunning makeup and hair design by Meredith Keister, Ms. Miller delighted both eye and ear. Mr. Chin-Loy sounded superb in the pianissimo passages; we hope he will learn that high doesn’t need to be loud and that floating notes in the upper register is way preferable to pushing them. Director for this scene was Fernando Parra Borti.

Mr. Borti also directed the final scene from Charles Gounod’s Faust. We did not care for the modern touch to the costumes by Rebecca Kendrick. Bass Anthony Robin Schneider in a dinner jacket managed to convey Méphistophélès' menace by means of his voice and presence. Tenor Justin Stolz in disheveled attire successfully colored his voice to reflect his desperate state; soprano Sarah Tucker in her blue prison jumpsuit was highly convincing as a woman gone mad with guilt and remorse. Mathew Mohr’s effective lighting turned the stage golden as she is “saved”.  Clinton Smith accompanied .

We loved Mo Zhou’s direction of the final scene of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. What an abundance of dramatically valid stage business and believable gesture and facial expression! These touches were so original in their conception and so fine in their execution that we almost lost our focus on the singing! When two young people are meant to be together but are blocked by their individual forms of pride, there is room for all kinds of activity and Ms. Zhou elaboratd every nuance. Of course, she had great material with which to work; soprano Sylvia D’Eramo seemed to be having great fun as Adina and tenor Rafael Moras was completely convincing as the lovelorn Nemorino. We hope he will work on bringing his voice forward, which would bring his vocal performance to the same level as his dramatic performance.  Keun-A Lee accompanied to perfection. Sage Foley’s costume design for Adina was a wedding dress and Nemorino wore a cowboy hat. 

Ms. Zhou’s direction of a scene from Richard Strauss’ Arabella was similarly interesting. We particularly enjoyed the touch of Count Elemer (portrayed in all his arrogant glory by the excellent tenor Jesse Darden) addressing some of his comments about Arabella to the dress form on which was displayed her debutant gown. For us, however, this scene was impaired by being updated to the 1950’s. We almost always want to see operas performed in the original time and place. When the two sisters speak of sleigh rides we have a hard time accepting that they are living in the 1950’s! We do understand the concept of placing the opera in a period in which society women needed to find rich husbands but we can’t imagine 1950’s parents dressing up their younger daughter as a boy because they couldn’t afford two “coming out” parties.

A further problem was the paucity of choices for 1950’s costumes.  Poor soprano Mathilda Edge was obliged to appear in a most unflattering dress; we wonder if she had been in appropriate period attire whether she might have had a better handle on the character of Arabella, which failed to come across. Soprano Jana McIntyre transcended her feminine beauty and appeal to be convincing in the role of the cross-dressing Zdenka, as convincing as the afore-mentioned Mr. Darden. Financially embarrassed and desperate parents were played by bass Anthony Robin Schneider as Baron Waldner with mezzo-soprano Kathleen Felty as his wife Countess Adelaide. Carol Anderson did her best at the piano but we missed Strauss’ lush orchestrations.

We could not make much of the scene from Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath. We couldn’t stop thinking that Steinbeck’s moving book did not ask for music, nor did Mr. Gordon provide any. Pianist James Lesniak did his best with the score, as did the large cast of singers, but we love melody and did not hear any. Mezzo-soprano Katherine DeYoung as Ma Joad surmounted the musical deficits with the lovely texture and expressiveness of her instrument and soprano Amy Owen sang sweetly as Rosasharn.  Mackenzie Dunn’s costumes were suitably drab. James Robinson’s direction provided an elevated platform to serve as a truck which held the migrating Joad family, portrayed by Ms. DeYoung, Ms. Owen, Vartan Gabrielian, Benjamin Taylor, Michael J. Hawk, Jarrett Logan Porter, Jesse Darden, and Seiyoung Kim. Bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen appeared as the Inspector who gives the family the good news that they have arrived in California. We cannot fathom why this scene was chosen as it didn’t give any of the men much chance to show off their vocal artistry.

There will be an entirely different program this upcoming Sunday and we recommend the experience wholeheartedly.

(c) meche kroop