THE MAGIC OF THE FLUTE

The Three Spirits:  Lorenzo Jordan, Cecilia Antonelle and Elizabeth Sharp

If you read this in time you can still see New York Opera Exchange's charming production of Mozart's Magic Flute Sunday at 3PM at All Souls Unitarian Church.  You will thank us for the recommendation.  Artistic Director Justin Werner, Musical Director Alden Gatt and Director Andreas Hager are responsible for bringing this work to the stage with a fresh spirit that left the young audience smiling and enlightened as to what opera can be.  It thrilled us to see several hundred young people filling the acoustically excellent church and enjoying themselves so much.

We do not mean to imply that Mr. Hager has burdened the familiar work with a far-out unworkable concept; rather he has mounted a traditional production with thought-provoking psychological insight.  Pamina, sung by the always excellent and beautiful Margaret Newcomb, is a troubled child of divorced parents who, at one point, is ready to kill herself until the three adorable spirits pictured above dissuade her with gorgeous harmony and persuasive words.

Father Sarastro, well sung and acted by bass-baritone Javier Ortiz, is pompous, controlling, self-righteous, sexist and insufficiently protective of his daughter, leaving her vulnerable to the amorous advances of Monastatos, tenor Victor Starsky.  Mother Queen of the Night,  high-flying coloratura soprano Julie Norman, has the advantage of having earned her daughter's love and being eager to help her to a worthy husband; she dispatches the importunate Monastatos with a wave of the hand, injuring him exactly where potential rapists should be hurt.  But, she is undone by her vengefulness when she tries to get Pamina to kill her father.

Instead of casting Tamino as a tall handsome prince, he is seen as a chubby pubescent boy (fine tenor Joseph Palarca) who is still playing with stuffed animals at bedtime.  But when he falls asleep his dream-life is filled with the characters of the opera as he enters the phase of life called "growing up". 

If there is a star-turn in the opera, it is the Papageno of Paull-Anthony Keightley, an Australian baritone who knows just how to use his expressive face and flexible body to create an original version of this lovable character. The "birds" he catches are girls!   He shows Tamino a Playboy centerfold, thus providing the impetus for the boy to shift his attention from stuffed animals to a beautiful girl.  Not to worry about bringing the kids; this centerfold is fully dressed!  Happily, Papageno gets his Papagena at the end, the lovely soprano Anna Richardson.

From here on in, Tamino continues on his journey to young adulthood, armed with his rescue fantasy.  With the help of Papageno, a gift-wrapped magic flute and magic bells, and the guidance of the three spirits, he is able to find the girl of his dreams and endure the trials that will lead to his enlightenment.  To be a man, he must learn to be steadfast, silent and patient.

The three ladies (lots of threes appear in this Freemasonry-inspired tale with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder) are very nicely sung indeed by sopranos Amanda Matson and Jennifer Russo with big beautiful Helena Brown taking the mezzo part.  Their voices are superbly balanced creating gorgeous harmonies.  Bass-baritone Victor Clark took the role of the Speaker and Scott Ingham distinguished himself as an Armored Man whose tenor soared above the orchestra.

Not only were all the singers first-rate but the New York Opera Exchange Orchestra, comprising 31 astute musicians, were guided into a performance Mozart himself would have approved.  We would be remiss not to mention the principal flutist A. Lish Lindsey.  Magic flute indeed.

Costumes by Joel Yapching were clever.  Papageno was dressed like Tony the Tiger; Tamino wore odd pajama pieces, Pamina wore a black corset and sheer skirt, the Queen of the Night had an other-worldly headpiece, Monastatos wore white athletic gear, and the three young spirits were dressed as school kids with back packs.  We were puzzled that Papagena had a feathered cape and cap when Papageno bore no feathers.  We also wondered why the members of Sarastro's community all wore dark glasses.  There was a scene in which donning the dark glasses symbolized enlightenment; this seemed rather counter-intuitive.

Set design was by Lucas Womack and could not have been more simple--just a bed for Tamino to fall asleep on and later for Pamina to occupy in the room in which she must fight off Monastatos.  The pulpit and the stairs leading up to it were employed as needed.  German diction was mostly good and, if you were German speaking, you could definitely understand without the titles.

We understand that this singspiel was originally created by a talented troupe in a low-rent theater and made a big hit.  Well, we are happy to report that in over 200 years talented small companies are still doing the same thing!

© meche kroop

THE BOHEMIANS OF BUSHWICK

Won Whi Choi as Rodolfo, Liana Guberman as Mimi

Our trek to Brooklyn on a rainy Friday night was amply rewarded on two accounts.  For one thing, the performance of Puccini's La Bohème by Loft Opera was novel and gripping; for another, it warmed our hearts on that chilly night to see three hundred young audience members in rapt attention to the trials and tribulations of characters with whom they could identify.  When we could tear our eyes away from the action, we observed the faces of the audience members, laughing at the hijinks of the quartet of hipster/artists in Act I and later in Act IV verging on tears over Mimi's death.

This may be considered a site-specific work, staged as it was in a large chilly industrial space with makeshift lighting.  Audience members drank beer and wine and wandered through the playing area where Rodolfo was sitting at his typewriter and Marcello was painting a mural on the floor.  This clearly set the stage for the drama to follow and evoked feelings of intimacy with the singers.

The musical values were superb all around.  Conductor Dean Buck led his 21 fine musicians in a reduced score (uncredited) that made fine musical sense.  The young singers all had fine healthy voices and keen dramatic instincts.  Soprano Liana Guberman made a touching Mimi as her voice rose to dramatic heights when called for and lowered for moments of intimacy with Rodolfo, performed by the excellent tenor Won Whi Choi who showed a natural ardency of expression and fine technique.

His best bud Marcello was portrayed by the robustly voiced baritone Joshua Jeremiah whose infatuation with the fickle Musetta led to passion and jealous rage.  Musetta was given a believable characterization by Larisa Martinez whose excellent voice delivered "Quando m'en vo" with high style.

Baritone Pnini Grubner made an effective Colline; his farewell address to his overcoat is, for us, one of the highlights of the opera and of the baritone canon.  Joel Herold performed the musician Shaunard who "brings home the bacon"--apparently the only member of the quartet who can earn money.

The roles of Benoît and Alcindoro were combined and played by Paul An.  This was one of many interesting directorial concepts, some of which worked better than others.  The idea of the wealthy landlord stepping out with his tenant's girlfriend really complicates the issue of lover's rage, especially when the tenant can't pay his rent.

Between Creative Director Daniel Ellis-Ferris and Stage Director Laine Rettmer we were unsure who was responsible for the parakeet that was slaughtered but we were assured that no fauna was harmed in the production and it was just an illusion!  But that really was a huge white balloon standing in for the moon that was burst.

We are pleased to tell our readers that there will be three further opportunities to join the six hipsters onstage and to suffer through their difficult lives while listening to Puccini's gorgeous music so well played.  Tonight and next Friday and Saturday nights--if you can still get tickets.  We can guarantee you a fresh look at an old favorite and a truly bohemian experience.  We are not worried about the future of opera when we have companies like Loft Opera!

© meche kroop

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

George London Foundation Finalists with Nora London--winners all!

The George London Foundationn is a grants program for outstanding young singers from the USA and our neighbor to the north; it was established in 1971 and has, since then, generously given over 300 awards.  Yesterday we witnessed an amazing level of artistry on the stage of an acoustically fine hall in the Morgan Library as the final round of the annual competition took place.  If you missed it, you can purchase a CD from the foundation or watch it streamed at www.georgelondon.org.

Being in the audience meant being treated to a succession of performances-- one gifted young singer after another.  Being one of the judges must have been torture.  How could one pick this one over the other one?  All were superb.  In point of fact, every singer left with a prize, the least of which was a $500 stipend and an Honorable Mention.

Among the seven top prize winners receiving generous grants of $10,000 were bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, a gifted artist who sang "Solche hergelaufner Laffen" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail; he used his large instrument and fine dramatic instinct to create a very funny character.

Soprano Tracy Cox dazzled with "Dich, teure Halle" from Wagner's Tannhäuser and captured the prize for Wagnerian singing; she has a huge voice that absolutely fills up the room and impressive German diction.

Another fine Wagnerian singer, soprano Marina Harris, impressed by varying the dynamics and colors of her voice as she performed "Einsam in trüben Tagen" from Wagner's Lohengrin.

Canadian baritone Cameron McPhail garnered his prize for "C'est moi, Carlos! C'est mon jour supreme" from Verdi's Don Carlos; he has the lovely legato line required by a Verdi baritone and has excellent French diction.

A deeply felt rendering of "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Hérodiade won a prize for baritone Norman Garrett who sang in superb French with admirable dynamic control.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, accompanied by her husband, won her prize for "Sein wir wieder gut" from Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.  She is already well known onstage at the Metropolitan Opera.

Counter-tenor Ray Chenez won his prize for "Refugee's aria" from J. Dove's Flight, an opera with which we are unfamiliar.  Notably, his English was comprehensible, something we never take for granted.

Here is what struck us from among the winners of $1000 Encouragement Awards: tenor Anthony Kalil's heartfelt and Italianate "Che gelida manina" from Puccini's La Boheme; soprano Elizabeth Sutphen's floated top notes, elegant phrasing and expressiveness in "Ah! Douce enfant" from Massenet's Cendrillon; soprano Rebecca Pedersen's voice with its interesting overtones; bass-baritone Gerard Michael D'Emilio's carefully considered "Se vuol ballare" from Mozaart's Nozze di Figaro in which each repeated phrase offered freshness; baritone Brian Vu's energy and personality in "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia; mezzo Julia Dawson's fine coloratura in the cabaletta of "Tanti affetti" from Rossini's La donna del lago; the polished performance and interesting voice of mezzo Catherine Martin in "O mio Fernando" from Donizetti's La Favorita; and the big voice of bass-baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. who gave a highly dramatic performance of "E sogno, o realtà" from Verdi's Falstaff.

We are also inclined to make mention of some performances that impressed us at the Honorable Mention level: soprano Kiri Deonarine dazzled in "The Bell Song" from Delibes' Lakmé; soprano Courtney Johnson whose exciting voice and excellent French brought new life to "The Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust; and baritone Jarrett Ott who sang "Look! Through the port" from Britten's Billy Budd and was totally convincing as a man coming to terms with an unjust death sentence.

And we, reader, must come to terms with the facts that not everyone can be first and that everyone hears things differently.  So...no quarrel with the judges who deliberated long and hard.  We heartily congratulate all the participants.  They are all winners in our eyes and ears.

© meche kroop

TEUTONIC LOVE FEST

Helmut Deutsch and Jonas Kaufmann

Lieder recitals are a tough sell but you'd never have known it last night when rock-star tenor Jonas Kaufmann gave a stunning recital with collaborative pianist Helmut Deutsch.  They held the capacity audience spellbound for two hours and six (yes, SIX!) encores.  Not a whisper was heard, nor forbidden electronic device; even coughs were stifled.  The only sound made by the audience was a bit of program shuffling on two occasions when the printed program did not accurately reflect what was being performed onstage.

You will hear no complaints from us that the program was almost entirely 19th c. German; it was a study in depth, not breadth.  Mr. Kaufmann is a brilliant interpreter, employing his gorgeous instrument to convey the depth of feeling in each song.  He is in complete control of dynamics with the most exquisite messa di voce one could wish for.  His phrasing is elegant and he is in possession of the uncanny skill of coloring his words the way a painter layers paint on canvas.

The first half of the program was all Schumann.  We have written before about Schumann's "year of song writing" as his feelings for Clara were finally permitted consummation.  We don't believe we have heard Zwölf Gedichte, Op. 35 before last night but we would happily hear them again.  The poet Justinus Kerner was an optimist and the songs are mainly sunny in nature.  But our favorite was "Stille Tränen" in which Mr. Kaufmann floated his high notes as if they were balloons filled with helium.

Dichterliebe, Op. 48, composed the same year, 1840, made use of the darker poetry of Heinrich Heine and describes the course of a failed love affair, permitting Mr. Kaufmann to render moods from the initial hopefulness of "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai" to the concluding resolution of "Die alten, bösen Lieder" in which the poet dramatically buries his dreams in a huge coffin which endures a burial at sea.

We are far more familiar with this cycle and have our personal favorites:  "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne" is filled with excitement; "Ich grolle nicht" is bitter and ironic; "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" has a cynical flavor; "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet" is filled with sorrow.  All of these moods and more were captured and embraced by Mr. Kaufmann.

The second half of the program was given over to Wagner and Liszt.  Richard Wagner's 1857 Wesendonck Lieder, Op. 91 with their chromatic harmonies and melodic motives (to be heard in Tristan and Isolde) were performed with incredible sensuality.

Franz Liszt's Tre sonetti di Petrarca, composed in the 1840's to texts by Petrarch, are bursting with passion.  In "Pace non trovo" we were vastly impressed by that beautiful messa di voce and those wild upward skips.

The audience showed the artists a lot of love at the conclusion of the recital and the artists returned the love with a series of six encores.  No one wanted to leave!  It is a rare event in a hall the size of Carnegie Hall to feel such an intimate connection with an artist.  Before the final encore, in a touching moment, Mr. Kaufmann got down on one knee to express his gratitude for the accolades he was receiving.  But ultimately, it was the audience that showed their gratitude for his performance with an endless standing ovation.

© meche kroop

OLD WINE IN A NEW KEG

 Takaoki Onishi and Raquel Gonzalez (photo by Richard Termine)

We are thrilled to the bone after another splendid evening at Juilliard, witnessing the gifted young artists of the Juilliard Opera bring new life to Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.  It's not as if we have anything against the several traditional productions we have seen; it's just that this chamber reduction allowed us to experience the story and the music in a new way.  Discovering something new is always a treat.

Director Mary Birnbaum has mined the story and found gold.  By focusing on the four young people at its core and emphasizing the psychological aspects, she has revealed the opera's heart; it's a coming of age story.  Each singer has plumbed the depths of his/her character and come up with meaningful and dramatically valid choices.

As Tatiana, soprano Raquel González captured all the vulnerability and recklessness of a girl's first love, having no trouble looking about 16 in pigtails.  In the final two scenes, she demonstrated the poise of a woman who has been married to a Prince for perhaps 6 years and has firmed up her boundaries, so to speak.  Although she is still in love with Onegin, she will not dishonor her husband.  She used a multiplicity of vocal colors as well as posture, gesture and facial expression to convey her maturation.  Her fine instrument and diction served the character and was never used to call attention to itself.

Likewise, Takaoki Onishi's creation of the eponymous Onegin was creative and original.  He avoided the clichés of arrogance but evinced a character that was perhaps 19 years old and full of himself in the opening scene when he meets Tatiana.  He thinks he knows himself--a man who could never love and settle down to domesticity.  He is only as honest with Tatiana as he is with himself; he suffers from the blindness of youth. He is not cruel to her; he seems almost avuncular as he advises her to keep a lid on her passions.  He acts out his boredom with country life by flirting with his friend's sweetheart--provocative in the way a thwarted teenager can be.  When the situation goes too far, he is remorseful but he cannot put a halt to the chain of events he has initiated.  By the end of the opera, he realizes he has ruined his life.  The tumultuous emotions never interfered with Mr. Onishi's luscious baritone sound.

Lensky was so stunningly portrayed by tenor Miles Mykkanen that we wept for his youthful benightedness.  At the beginning he is carefree and madly in love with Olga.  He endures paroxysms of jealousy when Olga responds to Onegin's overtures.  Again, we heard an incredibly wonderful instrument that disappeared into the characterization.  His "Kuda, kuda" was imbued with all the colors of the palette of an artist, which, of course, he is.  We heard doubt, fear, regret and passion.  We suffered along with him.

Mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau has a rich caramel voice and turned in a splendid performance as the light-hearted Olga, the carefree younger sister.  During the orchestral prelude, a pantomime of two little girls had established the warmth of the relationship between the sisters as well as the difference of their characters.  We always wondered what happened to Olga after her fiancé was killed in the duel but Ms. Amereau's characterization led us to believe that she recovered from the shock and went on to lead a rather carefree life post-opera!

Because the opera was presented chamber-style we enjoyed the feeling of intimacy that provided and never missed the huge chorus or ball scene in the last act.  Madame Larina and Nanny Filipyevna were combined into one character, portrayed by the excellent mezzo Samantha Hankey with soprano Marguerite Jones as the maid Anya.  For comic relief there was the foppish Monsieur Triquet, portrayed with fine style by the excellent tenor William Goforth.

Bass Önay Köse had a single aria in the final act which was perfectly sung; he was every inch a Prince Gremin who has achieved favor with the court by virtue of his military success.  One could amazingly hear all this in his voice, as well as his tender feelings for his wife Tatiana who has brought youth and joy to his later years.  Bass-baritone Tyler Zimmerman made a fine Captain Zaretsky who was so proud of running a duel according to meticulous standards.  Indeed, there are no small roles!

Musical values were superb.  Youthful conductor Matthew Aucoin surely deserved all the foot-stamping at the end, as much as the singers merited their thunderous applause.  Under his baton and dancing hands, interesting melodic and harmonic elements emerged that generally get lost in a full orchestra in a large house. The reduced orchestration by Jonathan Lyness for the dozen musicians of the Juilliard Orchestra  worked very well for the small space of the theater.

Brian Zeger, Artistic Director of the Marcus Institute, said that this work is not meant as a replacement for the full-length work but rather an intimate look at the piece.  That being said, we will never look at the opera in the same old way, not ever.  And given the choice, we would prefer to see this version with its stunning insights.

We wonder how many operas there are that would lend themselves to such a treatment as Ms. Birnbaum provided.  There would seem to be a plethora, as long as there are musicians to do the reduction and gifted singers who can withstand such intimate scrutiny. 

© meche kroop

RARE AND WELL DONE

Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, Dina Kuznetsova, Michael Kaiser

Who else but Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song would undertake the assembling, translating and performing of Polish songs that we have never heard before and may never have the opportunity to hear again?  When we think of Polish music we think of Chopin whose name wasn't even mentioned until the encore.  More about that later.

Two international opera stars graced the stage, Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova and tenor Joseph Kaiser.  We were surprised to learn that neither speaks Polish; you could have fooled us!  It is a language more difficult than even Czech and it was a labor of love to learn to sing it as much as it was a labor of love to get the songs translated.

Mr. Blier's wry comment after the first two songs was "The Agony and the Ecstasy in reverse order".  Indeed!  The first song by Stanislaw Moniuszko, the 19th c. nationalistic composer of song and opera (the Schubert of Poland),  was sung passionately by Mr. Kaiser accompanied by two pianos (Mr. Blier and Associate Artistic Director Michael Barrett).  It was about the ecstasy of uncontrolled love.

The next song, Edward Pallasz' 20th c. lament by the Virgin Mary, here called "The Mother of Mankind", was indeed about the special agony felt by a mother over her son's torment.  Ms. Kuznetsova sang it with deep feeling and exquisite dynamic control; there was a special thrill as her voice bloomed in the upper register.  Troubling harmonies were handled by the two pianists.

Four songs by Grazyna Bacewicz followed, also from the 20th c.  Ms. Kuznetsova's performance of "Boli mnie glowa" (pardon our Polish) or "I have such a headache" injected vocal and gestural variety into the simple repetition of the phrase.  It was the only touch of humor in the program.  Bacewicz' song "The magpie" gave Mr. Barrett a chance to show off his skills.

Mr. Kaiser imbued "Keep speaking to me" by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz with a lovely delicate sound as the poet asks his lover to keep speaking as the breeze bears her words across a great distance, like a caress.  Ms. Kuznetsova sang the gorgeous melodies of the composer's "To the grieving maiden" as the poet reassures the girl that her sorrow will give way to joy as Spring returns.

Seven Yiddish Songs, Opus 13 by Mieczyslaw Weinberg followed.  The introduction was a playful duet sung on "La, la" while the postlude, also sung on "La, la" was painful.  The five actual songs with words comprised four delightful childhood songs with the fifth being the sorrowful song of an orphan; in this song the bitterness and anger were expressed by Mr. Blier's piano. Perhaps Mr. Weinberg seized upon Peretz' poetry since he lost his own family in the holocaust.

More songs by Moniuszko followed.  We loved the pastoral melody of "Evening Song" sung by Mr. Kaiser and Ms. Kuznetsova's performance of "The spinner".  Mr. Blier's piano created the spinning background as Ms. K. told the tale of a young maiden spinning and remembering her departed lover until....a new lover comes along and the thread of her memory breaks.

Composing in the early 20th c., Karol Szymanowski's music was influenced by Wagner and by his travels in foreign lands.  It is both exotic and erotic.  We enjoyed his opera King Roger in Santa Fe and was delighted to learn more about him and his growth as a composer.  His late period songs returned to a more folky style and we loved Mr. Kaiser's performance of "Neigh, my horse".

The final work on the program was "The Piper's Song" by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.  Adam Mickiewicz' text touched us; the piper will stop roaming and singing his lighthearted songs when he finds the person who senses the sorrow underneath; then they will share some tears and he will go no farther.

And now for the Chopin encore.  Well, not exactly.  You see, as Mr. Blier explained, Ira Gershwin once set lyrics to Chopin's E- major Etude.  Mr. Blier composed music for the verse and played both verse and Chopin's "refrain".  Now how often does one get a treat like that?!  Is there anything Mr. B. can't do??

© meche kroop

A WINTER'S JOURNEY

Gerald Finley (photo by Sim Canetty-Clarke)

"Neither snow nor rain...." prevented illustrious Canadian baritone Gerald Finley nor incomparable collaborative pianist Julius Drake from performing Schubert's heartbreaking Winterreise at Zankel Hall last night.  The same could be said for the intrepid audience which braved snow, slush, ice and rain to attend the final performance of the artists' North American tour.  We have no way of knowing what the first stop was like but the tour ended on a perfect note, so to speak.

The work is one of our favorite song-cycles. This journey into madness with text by Wilhelm Müller, published in 1824, is typical of 19th c. romantic angst; it begins with a young man's disappointment which grows into despair, denial and ultimately depression and longing for death. Schubert elevated it into an iconic work of art in 1827 and died, sadly, a year later.  The music reflects the composer's own feelings about impending disability and death, aware as he was of the trajectory of syphilis.

Mr. Finley and Mr. Drake formed a perfect artistic partnership in their exploration of this heart-rending music.  Both voice and piano expressed the many colors of grief--sadness, nostalgia, regret, false hopes, illusory dreams, and resignation.  Some of the songs are so melodic and well-known that they are still playing in our head.  Many of them are strophic and challenge the singer and pianist to invest each verse with variety; this the artists accomplished successfully.  We loved the quietude of "Der Lindenbaum", the violent contrasts in "Frühlingstraum", the alienation limned by "Der Wegweiser", the energy of "Die Post" and the mysticism of "Der Leiermann".

But the sensitivity of the artists contributed to our better hearing of the lesser known songs in the cycle as well.  Mr. Drake's light touch at the piano was particularly effective in recreating images from nature, of which there are plenty--wind, snow, crows circling, horses hooves, leaves rustling.  We could even feel the trembling of the last leaf left on the tree.

Take note that the cycle is available on recording for those of you who never made it to the recital.  And there is also a youtube video of the artists discussing this work.

© meche kroop