COSI FAN WHAT?

Minki Hong, Dongwei Shen, Michael John Butler, Maestro Patrick Furrer, Kayla Stein, Tivoli Treloar, and Theo Hayes

All we could think of at the opening performance of Cosi fan tutte at Juilliard was a song from Chorus Line entitled "Dance 10, Looks 3"--only we were thinking "Music 10, Production 3". We heard six superb singers doing justice to Mozart's comedy, and the excellent Juilliard Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Patrick Furrer, filling the Peter Jay Sharp Theater with glorious sound.  The set by Charlie Corcoran was colorful and appealing--but where were we? Surely not in Naples. We are in front of the City Lights Bookstore, so it must be San Francisco.

The costuming by Andrea Hood appears rather odd but it's not the 18th century, that's for sure. As is our wont, we have not studied the Director's Notes prior to the opera. We try to keep an open mind and to let a work speak for itself. This one spoke not with the intention of Lorenzo Da Ponte and dear Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but rather with the political intention of director Mo Zhou who, bless her heart, was trying to make points about women's liberation. What a heavy weight to place on a classic that is perfect just the way it was written. Do we need to sneak into the Metropolitan Museum of Art at night and paint over the Rembrandts and the Degas?

We sense lately a mistrust of the audience who really could be trusted to see this masterwork and enjoy what was apt to the times and compare it with the mores of today. Instead of involving the audience and letting them do the work, Ms. Zhou saw fit to impose her point of view. She even, as the program notes mention, modeled the two sisters after the debutant Nixon sisters and portrayed the two boyfriends as surfer dudes! And the manipulative jokester Don Alfonso as the poet Allen Ginsberg, appearing to be in the same generation.

These sisters have agency! They sense Don Alfonso's plot and get their revenge by walking out on the men. Wooooo!!!!  Very definitive, in spite of Mozart's music that leaves us unsettled, never very sure whether the girls will return to their respective fiancés or stay with their swapped lovers? And what about altering the libretto to suit the "concept".  "Well, we can just fool the audience the way the men in the opera tried to put one over on the young women; maybe we can count on no one knowing Italian, stupid Americans as they are."

Nevertheless, the performance was worth attending for its excellent musical values; we would expect no less of Juilliard students. Some of the singers are pursuing their Artist Diploma and others, their graduate degrees.  All were in fine voice and did exactly what the director asked of them, much of it leaning toward the physically excessive. Similarly, the costumes  were too much of a muchness. Although the 1960's are as remote to us as the 18th century, we have seen enough newsreels to know how Jackie Kennedy dressed and what "hippies" looked like. Only the excellent set was consistent with the chosen epoch and location, with the unmistakable Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Nonetheless, it is the voices that count and the six singers will leave this production with their respective roles "performance ready". If we were a casting director, we would hire all of them on the spot.

Beginning with the Fiordiligi of Kayla Stein, this super soprano had no problem negotiating the huge jumps in "Come scoglio", the acrobatics of which were reputedly created to skewer Da Ponte's mistress whom Mozart didn't like as she was cast in the role. The more gentle "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona" was affecting and persuasive. Ms. Stein has a lovely generous soprano, marked by agility.

Tivoli Treloar, as her sister Dorabella, successfully portrayed the more adventurous of the two and employed her pleasing mezzo-soprano instrument successfully in the emotional "Smanie implacabili" and later in "È amore un ladroncello" in which she justifies her behavior to her more faithful sister who is more successful at holding out against the importunate Ferrando.

Michael John Butler made a fine Ferrando. The hit tune "Un aura amoroso" is the aria the audience is waiting for but the hopeful sentiment becomes less hopeful in the subsequent "Io lo veggio" commanding a different more hesitant color in his warm tenor instrument.

As Guglielmo, Dongwei Shen's sweet baritonal sound helped to ensure a successful courtship of Ferrando's fiancée Dorabella. "Non siate ritrosi" does not lead to immediate success but before long, he is a singing a sweet duet with Dorabella "Il core vi dono", the two voices melding in perfect harmony. (Who could resist?) We loved the scene in which his gloating over his success triumphs over his sympathy for the less successful Ferrando. Of course, his gloating is short-lived as his Fiordiligi eventually succumbs to the advances of Ferrando.

As the worldly wise Despina, mezzo-soprano Theo Hayes overcame some ludicrous costuming to give a vocally excellent performance, warning the two sisters about soldiers "In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedeltà?" and later, encouraging them to find new lovers after the young men have presumably gone off to (the Vietnam) war. (Drafted in error, according to this "modernization"). We wondered whoever wore a punk hairstyle in the 60's but, there it was.

The character who puts the plot in motion is Don Alfonso and it was difficult visually to perceive Minki Hong as a worldly wise older man due to the costuming but his excellent singing triumphed over both concept and clothing.

As a lover of ensemble singing, we particularly enjoyed "Soave sia il vento" as the sisters and Don Alfonso watch the ship sail off. Additionally there is a scene at the end of the first act in which all six characters are in a frenzy, suggesting to us the seedling that grew into the famous Rossini sextets. Interesting that we never noticed that before.

As noted, Mozart's character revealing music rose above any attempt to make the story "relevant". It may not be politically correct (we of course, are not) to mention that members of both genders in that age group often play fast and loose with the feelings of their lovers. (Maybe all lovers do, even those that transcend genderhood.) One could easily rewrite this opera and reverse the genders but we hope no one does. Our feeling is that if you object to the values and morals of a story, write your own damn opera!  Leave Mozart alone!!!!

© meche kroop
 

JUILLIARD DOES ERISMENA

 The Cast of Cavalli's Erismena

When Francesco Cavalli composed the music for Erismena, opera was in its infancy. The work premiered in Venice in the mid 17th c. and is reported to have been a success. The music is absolutely gorgeous with subtle harmonic touches that could be better described by an expert in Baroque music. The libretto by Aurelio Aureli seems influenced by Shakespeare's comedies with lots of gender bending and unpredictable twists and turns, surprising revelations, and a happy ending.

The credit for the opera's success at Juilliard this week rests on the shoulders of  the nine post-graduate students of the Vocal Arts Department, the performances of the instrumental ensemble led by Maestro Avi Stein, and the heroic work of Director Lisenka Heijboer Castañon who took on a challenge of immense proportion. We never read the Director's Notes until after the opera so we can allow the work to speak for itself. How gratifying it was to not have to read the customary drivel about what the director was trying to say. 

Rather, this artist of the stage employed her notes to describe the Herculean task of assembling an opera from several extant versions and laboring to discover the essence of the opera in a way that would be meaningful for the audience. That we understood the story, in spite of confusing names and an even more confusing storyline, is evidence of her success. Participating in the revision of Aureli's libretto were Mo. Stein, Scenic and Costume Designer Julian Crouch, and Ligiana Costa. One never had the feeling of "too many cooks". Fortunately, the prologue was omitted since it added nothing to the story.

For us, the libretto had many angles and many stories to tell. One of them was about finding out your true identity, another was about the fickleness of lovers, another still about the wanton exercise of power, yet another about accepting the losses of aging, not to mention the value of forgiveness. Yet, it all came together as a meaningful whole.

The aging King Eramante was played by the entire ensemble carrying a model of a kingly head with four arms, manipulated by various cast members who also sang his lines in turn. A frightening nightmare about losing his crown and his power has made him rather testy. He wants to marry the beautiful Aldimira (portrayed by the silver-voiced and appropriately beautiful soprano Song Hee Lee) who has grown up in his court. She already has two lovers--the Iberian Prince Erineo who is disguised as a servant (whose low-lying part was effectively handled by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Bell) and the gallant Orimeno, (terrific tenor Geun-hyeong Han) who pulls feathers from his helmet and bestows them on others.

Aldimira is fickle and toys with her lovers until she meets the titular character Erismena (marvelous mezzo-soprano Tivoli Treloar) who has disguised herself as a male warrior from Armenia who was injured in battle and rescued by two compassionate members of the enemy forces, Orimeno and Argippo (the very fine baritone Dongwei Shen). They take her to Aldimira who, thinking she is a man, promptly falls head over heels in love. (Oh, that naughty child Amor with his bow and arrow!)

The eponymous Erismena was loved and abandoned by Erineo who is really Idraspe. She recognizes him and wants revenge but he doesn't recognize her.

It is interesting how this all turns out. We know how librettists make use of a deus ex machina to sort things out!

Since this is a comedy, we must have our comic relief which comes in the person of the aging Alcesta who once was a wet nurse (we won't tell you who she nursed) and is now bemoaning her loss of beauty. In a directorial stroke of genius, the part, originally written for a contralto, was performed by the bearded baritone Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha dressed in a 17th c. gown, complete with panniers. He was clearly having a great deal of fun with this role, almost as much as we had from watching and listening.

There is also a secondary romance between Argippo and Flerida played by the winsome soprano Gemma Nha. The other roles were also well sung. Bass Younggwang Park sang the part of Diarte, a prison guard. Mezzo-soprano Kate Morton sang the role of Clerio, servant to Erineo/Idraspe. Everyone handled the lavish decoration of the vocal line with aplomb.

We enjoyed the singing all around, especially because the diction was quite clear, making the titles redundant. However, having listened to the video recording from the Aix-en-Provence Festival of 2017 with counter-tenor Jakob Josef Orlinski (an alumnus of Juilliard) as Orimeno, we strongly prefer the Italian version. As one might expect, the rhythm of the Italian language matches the melody far better than English. The English libretto was created for the British public a couple decades after its Venetian premiere and was quite a success there. The language is rather archaic and, we repeat, we think it should have been performed in the original Italian.

The instrumental ensemble. made use of harpsichords, a pair of violins, a cello, a theorbo, and a harp. How gorgeously they played Cavalli's music! We just learned from the program book that Barbara Strozzi, one of our favorite Baroque composers, was a student of Cavalli.

We particularly admired the scenic design and costumes of Julian Crouch. The set was simple but effective--a wide short staircase leading up to the stage. Six Roman shades separated the downstage and upstage playing areas.  Panels were raised and lowered as necessary.  Contrasting with the simple sets, the costuming was lavish and effective in limning the characters. The photo above will tell you more than our words.

We would call the evening a complete success, leaving us smiling broadly and thinking about fate and the vagaries of love.

© meche kroop