BELLO BELLINI

Steven LaBrie and Christine Lyons in Bellini's La Straniera
(photo by Steven Pisano)

Last night at Rose Hall we enjoyed a rare performance of an early Bellini opera presented by Will Crutchfield's Bel Canto ensemble Teatro Nuovo; contrary to its nomenclature, the ensemble aims to bring back the performance style of the early 19th c.  This involves the use of period instruments, improvisatory vocalism, and the shifting of responsibility from a conductor to singers and musicians. We were not the only member of the audience to find this approach novel and thrilling; the applause at the end was thunderous and well deserved.

The opera premiered at La Scala in 1829; Bellini lavished this work with endless melodic invention--not the tunes of Rossini tumbling out one on top of the other, but long lyric lines that stretched and reached, rising and falling, replete with scale passages rather than vocal acrobatics.

Librettist Felice Romani based his libretto on an historical novel L'Étrangère written in 1825 by Charles-Victor Prévost d'Arlincourt which was also dramatized into a play, contributing somewhat to the libretto. The story is based on 12th c. history involving King Philip II of France whose first marriage was annulled and then later reinstated, both events by means of some papal finagling.

A cursory knowledge of this history went a long way toward making sense of the odd plot which we will try to summarize briefly. A woman has been hidden away somewhere with her brother to watch over her. (She is actually the discarded second wife of King Philip who has been obliged to return to wife number one.) She is veiled and mysterious; the locals consider her to be a witch.

Meanwhile, Count Arturo, about to be married to Isoletta, daughter of the Count of Montolino, is obsessively in love with her, although this sad and lonely Alaide (formerly Queen Agnes) rejects him and feels as if her life is accursed. Ultimately Isoletta realizes that Arturo will never love her, and in a move worthy of a 21st c. woman, rejects him at the altar.

Before the end, there is a duel, a suspected murder, a trial, and accusations of betrayal, all tropes of Romantic literature. 19th c. audiences lapped up this stuff but last night we heard quite a few titters in the audience at some of the twists and turns of the improbable plot.

We ourself did not laugh. We are accustomed to silly plots and can enjoy the music for its merit. At the harpsichord (here called the cembalo) was Mr. Crutchfield himself, focusing on the singers; Associate Artistic Director and Concertmaster Jakob Lehmann focused on the musicians. It was astonishing to observe the absence of a conductor with a baton on a podium !

We loved the sound of the early instruments, particularly that of the wooden flute. This is the sound we would love to hear in duet with Lucia in her mad scene, if a glass harmonica were not available. We noticed a very different layout of the orchestra with musicians facing one another, presumably for collaborative advantage. The brass instruments were valveless. The harp was briefly onstage and thrilled us with celestial arpeggi.

The Teatro Nuovo chorus was superb and opened the work with a gentle rocking barcarolle, a setting of some perfectly poetic text. Soon we would meet the anxious bride Isoletta, sung by soprano Alina Tamborini whose promotion from Apprentice Artist was well deserved. She has a beautiful presence onstage and a voice to match, with a lovely resonance and beautiful Bellini phrasing. Sadly, we wouldn't hear much more of her until the end of the opera.

In the starring role we had a Teatro Nuovo regular--soprano Christine Lyons whose passion brought Alaide to life. Her innate musicality brought out the beauty of Bellini's vocal lines in the lyrical passages. The vocal range called for was quite wide but Ms. Lyons was undaunted. There was the requisite brilliance in the upper register and substantial power at the bottom.

In the role of the tortured Arturo we had the sweet voiced tenor Derrek Stark--another Teatro Nuovo regular. He sang the challenging role with open throat and convincing passion. We remember Mr. Stark from his two years as an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera and more recently as a young artist with Palm Beach Opera. It is exciting to witness his growth as an artist.

As Alaide's brother Valdeburgo, baritone Steven LaBrie gave one of his superbly intense performances. His instrument is muscular yet flexible and his acting flawless. He is one of those artists whom we recognized as a rising star upon first hearing. Maestro Eve Queler brought Mr. LaBrie to our attention 7 years ago at a recital in which he sang Silvio's duet from Pagliacci, Figaro's "Largo al Factotum", "Ya vas lyublyu" from Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, and "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Herodiade. Hearing a baritone singing in bel canto and realismo styles, and in Italian, French, and Russian, convinced us he was on the path to stardom.

Now here's the coincidence. As rarely performed as this opera is, it was Maestro Queler who brought it to New York in 1993. Mr. LaBrie probably hadn't even started to sing then.

Tenor Isaac Fishman did well as the dissembling Osburgo and bass Vincent Grana lent authority to the role of Il Priore, who judged Alaide and recognized her as the French queen. Bass-baritone Dorian McCall had the role of Isoletta's father. All three men also sang in the excellent chorus.

The production was semi-staged. Fortunately everyone knew their roles and there were no music stands onstage. Singers were free to act; there were no sets or costumes; it was all about the music.

We left satisfied on every level and are looking forward to tonight's opera--Rossini's comedy La Gazza Ladra.

(c) meche kroop

DANTE'S GIFT

Cast of Prelude to Performance's production of Gianni Schicchi

We have already written extensively about Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance and we have just reviewed the first half of an evening of Puccini which we thoroughly enjoyed. The second half comprised a superb production of Gianni Schicchi, based on a minor character in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.  Giovacchino Forzano created a compelling comic libretto and Giacomo Puccini created some sparkling music that tickles the ear.

The success of this masterpiece requires ensemble work of the highest order and that is just what we got last night at the Kaye Playhouse.  You can get it too if you move quickly, as there is a final performance Sunday afternoon and you may never again have the opportunity to see the tale this well told.

This is a story requiring authenticity of time and place in order for us to relate to its generality and its marvelous message.  We all love to see the greedy and grasping get what they deserve. We can recall so many plays based on squabbling families fighting over their inheritance.

In this case, la famiglia Donati is noisily and disingenuously grieving their newly deceased patriarch. All sorrow is gone when they learn that old Buoso (Steven Mo Hanan) has left all his money and property to the monks.

Young Rinuccio (tenor Spencer Hamlin) is in love with Lauretta (soprano Anna Adrian Whiteway) who is the daughter of the wily peasant Gianni Schicchi (baritone Joshua DeVane). Rinuccio's snooty aunt Zita (marvelous mezzo-soprano Leah Marie de Gruyl) forbids his marriage to a girl without a dowry.

When you hear Ms. Whiteway sing "O mio babbino caro" you just know that her father will relent and agree to help the family that disparages him, and help himself in the process. And when Rinuccio sings the praises of Firenze we know he deserves the girl! The duet of the two lovebirds was beautifully sung.

The opera revolves around Schicchi's elaborate and risky plot to create a new will through the offices of the notary (Ben Reisinger, who also played Dottore Spinelloccio ) and his assistant Pinellino (Charles Carter).

The squabbling relatives included Melanie Ashkar as La Ciesca, Nicholas LaGesse as Marco, Vincent Grana as Simone,  Nicole Rowe as Nella, Hao Hu as Gherardo, Frida Werner as Gerardino, and Karl Buttermann as Betto, the poor relation.

The entire cast played off each other with great humor and laughter rang through the theater on numerous occasions. That the singing was superb throughout could almost be taken for granted. Ian Campbell's direction kept things moving at a fast pace and provided many small touches that distinguished the characters from one another. The bit about forgetting the manner of crossing oneself was just one of many. Snuffing out the candles that were initially lit to honor the deceased--(post revelation of Buoso's will) was another funny moment.

Joshua Rose's set was far more elaborate than that for Suor Angelica and is exactly what we would imagine for Renaissance Italy. Costuming by Charles R. Caine was even more elaborate with each character dressed according to their age and station. The beard and makeup for Simone was notably convincing and accomplished by Steven Horak.

Maestro Willie Anthony Waters brought out all the humor in Puccini's score. There is a repeated motif of a downward inflected pair of notes, a whole tone apart, and all one has to do to burst out laughing is to hear that motif.

Don't miss this outstanding production.  You are not likely to see such a fine production again!

(c) meche kroop

MORE IVAI

Rainer Armbrust, Jelena Banković, Gina Perregrino, Antonina Chekhovskaya, Christopher Georgetti, Dorothy Gal, Zayra Ruiz, and Sandra Hamaoui

Having greatly enjoyed the evening of arias presented by the International Vocal Arts Institute last Thursday (scroll down if you missed it) we were eager to hear how the talented young artists would fare with an evening of lieder and mélodies. Although many of the necessary skills overlap, the requirements for the latter differ from the former. 

In opera, an artist can succeed on the basis of a beautiful voice and good technique. For lieder, a deeply personal understanding of the text and the ability to draw the audience in are minimum requirements. The ability to access one's own feelings and communicate them to the audience so that they share the feelings are what distinguishes a great lieder singer. We have seen/heard some major stars of the opera world fail to achieve this difficult task.

We take pleasure in reporting that the students in the IVAI Summer Institute showed great promise in this challenging art form. Since the text achieves prominence in these works, the singer must be scrupulous in diction. These young artists appear to have benefited from the daily coaching sessions, with only an occasional avoidance of the final "ch" in German to detract from otherwise excellent diction.

Again, we were very impressed with soprano Sandra  Hamaoui (the Juliette of last Thursday) who performed "Absence" from Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été. Her well-focused voice was under fine dynamic control and the heartfelt communication of longing entranced us. We were so drawn in that we forgot where we were!

From the same cycle, soprano Jelena Banković sang "Villanelle" with piquant personality and high spirits. What a contrast from her performance as the tortured maiden in "Gretchen am Spinnrade" earlier in the program; she began seated and as the song built to a stunning climax she rose from her chair and then collapsed in despair at the end.  Simply riveting!

We have not heard mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino sing in some time and was delighted to hear her sing "Le spectre de la rose". Her French phrasing was scented with the perfume of the spirit of the rose. Very fragrant indeed!

Soprano Dorothy Gal made more of an impression than she had the other night when she breathed life into "L'île inconnue" just as the poet speaks of filling the sails of a boat.

Another singer who made more of an impression last night was baritone Lawson Anderson who limned the sorrowful colors of Hugo Wolf's "Verborgenheit" and provided necessary variety by means of dynamic control.

We had never heard soprano Aine Hakamatsuka before but she sang one of our favorite Wolf songs--"Das verlassene Mägdelein". She completely captured the daily tedium and vague unhappiness of the young woman and on "plötzlich" all the colors changed when she recalled the masculine source of her misery and flashes of anger emerged.  So powerful!  The far more cheerful "Er ist's" allowed her to exhibit completely different vocal colors.

Mezzo-soprano Georgia Burashko did some fine work in Schumann's "In der Fremde", the challenging opening song of his Liederkreis with it's lonely feeling and changes of key. (Strangely the translation provided was for the other "In der fremde" which is song #8.)  In a totally different mood was "Waldegespräch" in which she captured the sense of menace; we hoped to hear a bit more contrast of color between the voices of the man and the Lorelei and a clearer  "ch" at the end of the words. 

In "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube", light tenor Mattheus Coura showed all the impetuosity of a young man who idolizes his girl, perhaps in the way that Schumann worshipped his Clara.  It felt delightfully spontaneous.

Tenor Christopher Eaglin possesses a heavier instrument and his songs were wisely chosen.  He sang "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" and then "Ich grolle nicht", both also from Schumann's Liederkreis. He sure knows how to sustain a tone to the end of the phrase.

There was only one bass-baritone on the program and he is a born storyteller. He sang Schumann's "Die beiden Grenadiere" with fine diction and expressiveness of voice, face, and gesture. Vocal coloring sustained interest throughout.

Several more young artists were on the excellent program--sopranos Yulan Piao, Antonina Chekhovskaya (reviewed last Thursday), and Kimberly Merrill, mezzo Zayra Ruiz (reviewed last Thursday), and tenors Zachary Rubens and Christopher Georgetti. All impressed us and merit further hearings.

Accompaniment was excellent and provided by Rainer Armbrust whose piano postlude in "Er ist's" was dazzling.  the effective staging was done by Joshua Major who had several singers seated onstage at once, listening raptly to whomever was singing. It produced a more dramatic effect than one usually experiences at a lieder recital but, paradoxically felt casual, as if we were at a musicale in Schumann's parlor.

There will be a final recital on Wednesday and we regret that we have a prior engagement. We urge you to go hear these fine young artists.

(c) meche kroop