ON ARTISTS, MARRIAGE, AND CHILDREN

Irina and Lucas Meachem

Only fifty fortunate folk can be accommodated in the spooky subterranean Crypt of the Church of the Intercession. This makes every event there, produced by Andrew Ousley for Unison Media, a major exclusive event.

In the 1830's, poet Friedrich Rückert poured out his grief over the loss of two of his children in a massive way--over 400 songs which were never intended for publication. Fortunately, they were published posthumously; we say "fortunately" because his working through of grief may have helped countless grieving parents. In his day, children died of scarlet fever; today children die of cancer and accidents. The poems reveal anguish, despair,  perhaps even a touch of guilt, fantasies of restitution, and ultimately acceptance and peace.

Gustav Mahler selected five of the poems to set in the early 20th c. His wife Alma thought he was tempting fate, and, strangely, a few years later, he lost his beloved little daughter, also to scarlet fever. The songs are written in the late Romantic style, one which we love hearing.

The choice of Kindertotenlieder by baritone Lucas Meachem and his lovely and very pregnant wife seemed to us to be a form of what mental health people call "reaction formation"--flying in the face of fear. We cannot help but say reassuring things in our mind. We cannot help but wish well to this artistic couple before we even address the performances.

Mr. Meachem has a huge voice which was magnified by the acoustics of the Crypt, an appropriate venue for songs about death. He made no attempt to scale his voice to the size of the room and the audience faced the full force of these songs that one would never have experienced elsewhere.

Far more important than his enormous instrument is the artistry with which he employs it. Here's a man who sings from the heart; he knows just how to phrase and how to color and how to play with dynamics for maximum effect.

The program touched some unexpected bases. He opened with "La calme rentre dans mon coeur" from Act II of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, performed in finely flowing French with exquisite attention to line. It is almost a self generated lullaby sung by Orestes to himself.

Our favorite part of the program was Mr. Meachem's delivery of Onegin's response to Tatiana's letter from Act I of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Lacking a Russian keyboard, we cannot give you the title. Nonetheless, we love this opera and loved Mr. Meachem's performance.

Before he sang "They Wish They Could Kill Me" from Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, Mr. Meachem gave a few riffs from other iterations of Figaro by Rossini and Mozart. Truth to tell, we prefer the music of those titans to that of Corigliano but we did enjoy the baritone's characterization of Figaro, now aged.

Copeland's Old American Songs don't do much for us but they were engagingly performed. The folk song "Shenandoah" made much more of an impression on us and seemed to have a special meaning for Mr. Meachem.

His other encore surprised us!  Even after he announced that it was sung by a king, we didn't get the joke until the singing began.  Elvis Presley's 1969 hit "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" never sounded so good and did wonders for relieving our dark mood left over from the Kindertotenlieder.

His wife Irina is a gifted collaborative pianist and gave perfect support to the singing throughout the performances.  We wish she had had a solo!

Mr. Ousley always comes up with original ideas well suited to his available venues. Summer is a-comin' in and that means The Angel's Share series at Greenwood Cemetery. We ain't spillin' the beans unless you twist our arm!

(c) meche kroop

THE ROSE ELF OF THE CATACOMBS

Samantha Hankey (photo by Matthew Placek)

Kyle Bielfield, Alisa Jordheim, and Andrew Bogard (photo by Matthew Placek)

When Andrew Ousley of Unison Media informed us that he was producing a series at Greenwood Cemetery, we opined that it would be a hard sell.  Mr. Ousley laughed and said the run was already sold out. Our curiosity was aroused. Was it the excellent cast of singers? Was it the highly unusual subject for an opera (an almost unknown Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale)? Was it the composer David Hertzberg? Was it the director R.B. Schlather who made quite a name for himself directing Händel operas? Was it the exotic site? Was it the preceding whisky tasting? 

We have come to trust Mr. Ousley's taste in entertainment after some rather stunning evenings spent in The Crypt of the Church of the Intercession.  On that basis we decided to make the long trip to Brooklyn.  It was an enchanting evening on the whole.

A vigorous uphill climb led to a verdant spot overlooking the city where excited members of the audience were treated to a whiskey tasting complemented by snacks. Just as our taste in music is somewhat limited, so is our taste in beverages and we were happy that beer was available.  And just as other folks might love music that leaves us cold, so do other folks enjoy the taste of bourbon, scotch, or rye.

The pleasures of the view and the socializing lasted an hour after which we climbed even farther uphill to the catacombs, built in the 1850's and usually closed to the public. We entered a space at least 50 yards long but only 10 feet wide, with seats in a single row along each side, placing the artists either right in your face or else very far away.

And what artists they are! Called upon to do far more than sing, we recalled how much training in movement that three of the four had received at Juilliard.  Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, tenor Kyle Bielfield, and bass-baritone Andrew Bogard are well known to us as former Juilliard students (and Mr. Bogard from his stint with the Santa Fe Opera), and coloratura soprano Alisa Jordheim is well remembered as Serpetta in Mozart's La finta gardiniera, produced by On Site Opera.

The good news is that the barrel ceiling of the catacombs ensured impressive resonance to these gorgeous prize-winning voices. The bad news is that the sight-lines were poor. And R.B. Schlather's direction provided much to look at. But audience members all leaned forward in their seats trying to see what was happening on either end, making vision even more difficult in this very long and very narrow playing space.

This was a very physical production with poor Ms. Jordheim being dragged the entire length of the concrete floor on her back! Nonetheless, the singers have every reason to be proud of their excellent performances.

The chamber opera was The Rose Elf, adapted from a barely known fairy tale, and developed within the Opera Philadelphia Composer-in-Residence Program by David Hertzberg.  It is part of the third annual New York Opera Fest.

We were glad to have read the story in advance because it was difficult to understand without foreknowledge. An elf who lives cozily within a rose gets shut out of his home by an early closure. Searching for lodging for the night, he witnesses a foul deed by an evil man (Mr. Bogard) who sends his sister's beloved (Mr. Bielfield) away on a trip but then murders him most foully. In the fairytale, the sympathetic elf (Ms. Hankey) comforts the young woman (Miss Jordheim) and achieves revenge on the brother with the help of some bees.

Not everything came across as well as one would have wished but an interesting interpretation was that the brother, judging by body movement, was motivated by lust for his sister. 

We were not as moved by the libretto as we were by reading the fairy tale and the vocal lines were not melodic. Both the music and the libretto were written by prize-winning composer David Hertzberg who composed some lovely instrumental music for the chamber orchestra, which was placed at the far end of the "tunnel".  Maestro Teddy Poll effectively conducted the group which comprised a string quartet, augmented by a bass, a piano, a clarinet, a horn, and percussion. They made some gorgeous sound!

It is so often the case these days that we hear contemporary music that is interesting but lacking in a melodic line for the voice. We believe what is needed is music written by singers!

All of the singers enunciated English with clarity but the words failed to capture the magic of the story. Supertitles by Steven Jude Tietjen and Katie Lipow were projected for part of the performance but were not visible unless one were sitting directly across from them.

Costumes of flowery prints were worn by the two lovers and Ms. Hankey's elf wore a silver dress and boots.  Hairstyles and makeup did not impress us. JAX Messenger provided the lighting design for this eerie space.

The opera--a world premiere--was the initial offering in Mr. Ousley's new series called The Angel's Share. For those who are not whiskey drinkers, let us enlighten you. The Angel's Share is the distiller's term for the whiskey that evaporates during the distilling process--hence the whiskey tasting before the performances.

Other performances in this clement weather series will include some radical chamber music, which may be more to our taste. It is always interesting for us to see new works, even if we are not totally thrilled by them. It was a most arresting evening and we loved hearing such special singers, all four of whom threw themselves into the performance.

We are a fast walker and had the opportunity to pass by several groups of people descending the hill after the performance. We eavesdropped. Most of the comments were positive, praising the originality of the experience. Some were unhappy with the music or the sightlines.  But everyone loved the voices!

We saw several people trying to get last minute tickets at the gate but there were none available.  There will be two more performances on 6/8 and 6/10 but snagging tickets will be unlikely. We refer you to Unison's website for information on the remainder of the series. deathofclassical.com! Indeed!

(c) meche kroop

INTO THE CRYPT WITH SALLY HEMINGS

Michael Fennelly and Alyson Cambridge

There is something both grand and spooky about descending several flights of stairs to The Crypt Chapel of the Church of the Intercession.  The high-ceilinged and resonant space gives one a sense of the importance of what will take place there; indeed last night's performance fulfilled that expectation. Unison Media's Andrew Ousley always has something unique to offer in his Crypt Sessions!

What we experienced last night was a piece entitled From the Diary of Sally Hemings; Ms. Hemmings was a slave of our third POTUS Thomas Jefferson, a mulatto woman who became his common-law wife. The text by Sandra Seaton, a librettist and playwright, can be thought of almost as a work of historical fiction. Ms. Hemings may have been quite literate but she left no diary that historians know of. If she kept one it was destroyed.

So this is a work of imagination, not one of historical accuracy. It is Ms. Seaton's idea of what Ms. Hemings might have felt in her life journey, one of extraordinary privilege combined with slights and insults. She accompanied Jefferson to Paris and returned with him to Monticello. She bore him children, none of whom remained in slavery. She learned French and was dressed in high fashion.

What we didn't know was that she and Martha Wayles (Jefferson's beloved wife) were half-sisters! Martha's father John Wayles formed an alliance with his housekeeper Elizabeth after Martha's mother died.  Sally was a child of that union. Similarly, Jefferson formed an alliance with Sally after Martha died. 

We couldn't help wondering whether Jefferson fell in love with Sally because she reminded him of his late wife whom he adored. Reading the text we wondered whether Sally loved Jefferson or saw him only as a kind "Master" who gave her extraordinary privileges. It is almost impossible for a 21st c. person to imagine life on a slave holding plantation over two centuries ago.  We do not judge what we cannot understand.

There is something we do know (or think we know) that Ms. Seaton omitted from the story. She has claimed that Jefferson did not have any affairs or love any other women after his wife died. This would tend to put Sally on some kind of pedestal. But no mention was made of Maria Cosway!

Ms. Cosway was an unhappily married Italian woman living in London. She met Jefferson during his stay in Paris as United States Minister to France, whilst Sally was purported to be accompanying him. Jefferson and Cosway had an intense meeting of the minds and shared a love of the arts; it was a friendship that endured until his death but was expressed mainly through letters, which have been researched by historians. They were rarely alone and it is not known whether their love was consummated or not. But it is known that she, a composer, sent several of her compositions to Jefferson and they exchanged letters expressing deep devotion and encouragement.

It might have made an interesting addition to the story to speculate upon the effects that this relationship had on Ms. Hemings! Nonetheless, the absence of this piece of information did nothing to impair the effect of hearing this monodrama, with music by the highly eclectic composer William Bolcom. Our affection for Mr. Bolcom's music rests mainly on his "Song of Black Max", a cabaret song we have reviewed multiple times, most recently just five days ago at the Opera Index party.

But Mr. Bolcom writes with great eclecticism and we found his piano writing for this piece to be highly accessible and refined as performed by Michael Fennelly, one of our favorite pianists. The vocal lines?  Not so interesting.  As performed by the splendid soprano Alyson Cambridge, it was a deeply felt story in which her intense and appropriate dramatic gifts filled in the blanks of the elliptical text.

Ms. Cambridge is a stunning woman with great personal power and a voice that soared into the upper reaches of The Crypt. Her crisp enunciation made every word clear, which is a feature we never take for granted. Her apt phrasing and gestures transformed the spare words on the page to a fully realized portrait.

We first heard Ms. Cambridge a year ago at a New Amsterdam Opera Gala. We loved her "Song to the Moon" from Dvorak's Russalka and her Giulietta from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. Last night we heard a different side of her eclectic talent.

With regard to the compelling setting for this work, Mr. Ousley donates the proceeds from ticket sales of his Crypt Sessions to The Church of the Intercession for the use and upkeep of The Crypt Chapel.

(c) meche kroop