A CLOSE SHAVE

The cast of Martinú's Comedy on the Bridge at Gotham Chamber Opera
(photo by Richard Termine)

We cannot think of another company who could have brought out all the crazy humor and satire in Czech composer Bohuslav Martinú's twin bill.  We didn't know opera could be so much fun.  But opening night of Gotham Chamber Opera's double bill at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater of John Jay College was just plain down and dirty FUN.  But it would be a mistake to shortchange the substantial underpinnings.  Sometimes the best way to learn is with humor, not with preaching.   We laughed.  We learned.

In Alexander Bis we are transported to a highly stylized Parisian home populated by absurd characters and surreal situations; the acting is equally stylized in a cartoonish manner.  An adorable maid (mezzo Cassandra Zoé Velasco) is dusting everything in sight with a shocking pink feather duster, the only spot of color on the highly stylized black and white set.  A portrait of a man, portrayed by bass Joseph Beutel, hangs on the wall; he comments on the action and interacts with the singers.

Alexander, the man of the house, (baritone Jarrett Ott) is testing his wife's fidelity by shaving his beard and pretending to be his Texas cousin.  His wife Armande (soprano Jenna Siladie) sees through the disguise but is wildly attracted to him.  At night in his arms she has a nightmare involving murder and some devils prancing around in red unitards with pink tutus.  (I kid you not!)

This good faithful woman, having had a taste of "infidelity" is now tempted by an athletic man she had previously rejected. An audience favorite, Oscar (tenor Jason Slayden) arrives on a bicycle in a wild and colorful costume.  Poor Alexander in his jealousy has created what he feared.  We got it.  We loved it.  We wanted to see it again!

The second one-act opera on the program was Comedy on the Bridge.  In this opera, the characters are not as absurd but the situation is.  Poor Popelka (the versatile Ms. Siladie, well remembered and reviewed by us last summer in Santa Fe) is crossing a bridge from a town which she has visited to find her soldier brother in an enemy camp.  Her "safe conduct" gets her past the sentry of the enemy town but the "friendly" sentry at the entrance to her own town will not admit her.  He is decidedly unfriendly!  So the poor girl is stuck on the bridge in a "no man's land". The two sentries are amusingly costumed in identical costumes of black and white, except the colors are reversed--even the beards.

Soon she is joined by the lecherous married hops farmer Bedroň (Mr. Beutel)  who imposes himself on her.  He is also stranded in "no man's land".  Next comes her fiancé Sykoš (Mr. Ott) who, convinced she has cheated on him, breaks off their engagement.  Next to arrive is Eva, Bedroň's wife (mezzo Abigail Fischer), who is ready to divorce her husband for philandering.  Finally the school master Učitel (Mr. Slayden) arrives, stumped by a riddle.  The running joke through the opera is the rigidity and close-mindedness we observe in the sentries, small people given great powers.  

When bullets start flying with great orchestral impact, the five trapped townspeople make peace with one another and by the end of the opera there is a happy ending.  We cannot help but think about the ridiculous aspects of war and of bureaucracy.  But we are thinking this with a big smile on our face.

The operas were wisely cast with talented singers who threw themselves into their roles with appropriate style, guided by James Marvel's impressive direction.  Every bit of stage business was motivated and the interaction between the characters, while absurd, made sense within the context of the absurd situation into which they were thrust.  Alexandre Bis was performed in French and the diction of the lower male voices surpassed that of the high female voices.  (That seems to always be the case).  The second opera was performed in Czech which delighted us no end.  The words, although not understood by this non-Czech-speaker, lined up perfectly with the music and delighted the ear.

And what about this music, written between the two World Wars?  We loved it!  It was consistently accessible and varied in tone, unlike so much music of the 1920's and 1930's.  To call it pleasing and tuneful is not to damn with faint praise.  The tone of the music always seemed to highlight the character of the singer and the situation. We particularly liked the emphatic battle music and the tender music for Popelka.  Neal Goren's conducting left nothing to be desired and the orchestra performed with verve and pizazz.

Production values were impressive all around.  We couldn't imagine a better set design than that of Cameron Anderson with effective lighting by Clifton Taylor.  Fabio Toblini's costumes were marvelously designed and always suited the characterizations--witness Popelka's charming peasant dress and Oscar's wildly bizarre costume.

How exciting to discover a composer largely neglected in the United States but probably given a great deal of attention in Czechoslovakia.  We wouldn't hesitate a minute to see more of his works.

© meche kroop

PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DOES

Kamal Khan and Pretty Yendy

Every now and then a singer comes onstage and shows such a wealth of positive attributes that we sit up straighter and take notice.  Our eyes rested on Pretty Yendy's beautiful face and form, her stylish gowns and her easy stage presence.  Our ears perked up as witnesses to her thrilling instrument, superlative technique and innate musicality.  Furthermore, she exuded warmth and a good-natured spirit.  It was all there and we delighted in recognizing a new star in the celestial realm of opera.

Ms. Yendy's New York debut recital was part of a celebration of South African culture--UBUNTU, taking place at Carnegie Hall.  This wondergirl was born in South Africa and, interestingly enough, her unfailingly sensitive piano partner, Kamal Khan, also has South African ties --Cape Town Opera and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.  The two of them had such an impressive onstage partnership it was as if they were telepathically connected.

This lovely soprano has superlative coloratura technique, making her a natural for the bel canto selections with which she opened the program.  She made the four songs her own with judicious use of rubato, fine vibrato, flexibility in her shifts from legato to staccato, and a preternaturally smooth portamento.  We heard Rossini's "La promessa", Bellini's "Vanne, o rosa fortunata" (both settings of texts by Metastasio) and two selections by Donizetti.  We particularly enjoyed the barcarolle-like fantasy "Me voglio fa 'na casa".

Next we heard some lovely songs written by Debussy when he was about 20 years old, inspired by an older married lover--his muse.  Can one possibly listen to "Mandoline", text by Paul Verlaine, without thinking of a Fragonard painting?  The vocal fireworks we heard in "O beau pays de la Touraine" from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots cemented our opinion of the artist's coloratura skills.  Embellishments simply poured out of her effortlessly. Our wish for Ms. Yendy is for her French diction to rise to the level of her Italian. There were no titles and the words might have been more clearly articulated.

Last week we heard Jennifer Johnson Cano (a mezzo) sing Liszt's "Pace non trovo"; last night Ms. Yendy sang it with excellent messa di voce and some high notes that would shatter crystal.  Petrarch's sonnets inspired Liszt and Liszt's music inspired Ms. Yendy and Mr. Kahn to a dramatically thrilling performance.

We could scarcely believe our good fortune to hear more zarzuela right on the heels of yesterday's event in Queens.  That patter song "La tarántula" from Giménez' La Tempranica was well done but it was "Me llaman la primorosa" from El barbero de Sevilla that we wanted to hear again and again.   

The program ended with the entire sleepwalking scene from Bellini's La Sonnambula; this gave Ms. Yendy an opportunity to show the varying moods of Amina, each mood with its own vocal challenges.  The audience was over the moon and Ms. Yendy rewarded us with no less than three stunning encores.

The first was "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, an endearing aria if ever there was one.  The second was an Ubuntu Celebration Song; we may not have understood the words but the warm feelings of fellowship came across the footlights.  And finally, because the audience would not let her go, she sang her final encore-"I Want to Be a Prima Donna", from Victor Herbert's 1911 operetta The Enchantress.  She wants it?  She gets it! She deserves it.

© meche kroop

VIVA ZARZUELA!

Maestro Jorge Parodi and cast of Zarzuela

This was indeed a weekend of discovery.  Yesterday we wrote about the operas of Carlos Gomes deserving more recognition and now we are writing about the thrill of discovering more about zarzuela than we did before.  Zarzuela was Spain's 19th c. answer to Italian opera (although it continued onto the shores of El Nuevo Mondo and into the 20th century) and shares a number of the features that make Italian opera so exciting--interesting stories about love, passion, betrayal and loyalty, supported by lavishly melodic music.  The music is accessible and sounds familiar, even when it is not.

The Spanish Lyric Theatre brought an afternoon of zarzuela to the Centro Español de Queens; judging by the appreciative applause the largely Spanish speaking audience enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Eighteen members of the flexible Metamorphosis Chamber Orquestra provided the music and they were in the good hands (no, the great hands) of star conductor Jorge Parodi who needs no baton.  He conducts with his dancing hands and his entire body.  He kept the orchestra perfectly balanced with well-articulated winds emerging over a lovely carpet of strings.

The stage design was simple but effective--a cocktail lounge in which men and women came together, interacted and shared their stories. The singers, without exception, threw heart and soul into the passionate arias, duets and ensembles.  The words we heard sung most often were "mi amor", mi vida", "tus ojos" and "mi corazon".  You get the picture!  What emotions other than love require us to burst into song!

One of our favorite sopranos, Amaia Arberas, served as Program Director and deserves accolades for putting together a program drawn from several works by different composers and uniting them into a cohesive whole.  Perhaps our favorite work would be Barbieri's El Barberillo de Lavapies which shares just a little with Rossini's Barber of Seville--only the contrast between the working folk and the aristocracy.  

In "The Entrada de Lamparilla" tenor Antón Armendariz (who also served effectively as Stage Director) used his pure sweet tenor and excellent dramatic skills to limn a character of outsize personality. When Ms. Arberas joined him for the duet of Paloma and Lamparilla it was clear that two enormously skilled artists were onstage together in a number that permitted delightful interaction.

Ms. Arberas also excelled in the rapid patter of "Zapateando" from Gimenez' La Tempranica. and the flamenco-influenced "Las Carceleras" from Chapi's Las Hijas del Zebedeo; accompanying her on the piano was the superb Ainhoa Urkijo.

Her duet with soprano Virginia Herrera "Niñas que Venden Flores" from Barbieri's Los Diamantes de la Corona was filled with high spirits; the two sopranos harmonized magnificently.  Ms. Herrera also excelled in the aria of suffering "Romanza" from Lecuona's María la O, accompanied by Ms. Urkijo's lilting piano.

There were only two works on the program that we have heard many times before.  Lara's "Granada" was well rendered by tenor Hamid Rodriguez as was the bitter "No Puede Ser" from Zorozabal's La Tabernera del Puerto.

Bass Eliam Ramos showed dramatic depth in "Despierta Negro" from the same zarzuela and, accompanied by Ms. Urkijo, delivered a heartfelt rendition of "Sasibil" from Guridi's El Caserío .

Tenor Cesar Delgado joined Ms. Amaia for "Este Pañuelito Blanco" from Torroba's La Chulapona, which had a fine clarinet introduction; he has a real inclination for Torroba as he demonstrated in his fine solo "De Este Apacible Rincón de Madrid" from Luisa Fernanda.

Rafael Abolafia played the part of the bartender with great style and narrated the action.

Other zarzuelas on the program included Arrieta's Marina, Caballero's El Duo de la Africana ( a humorous one), and Serrano's La Alegría del Batallon.

High on our wish list would be an opportunity to see one or more of these works performed in its entirety, staged and costumed.  Is anyone else interested?

© meche kroop

HOMAGE TO CARLOS GOMES

Maestro Harold Rosenbaum, Adam Cromer, Elena Heimur, Andrew Costello, Luiz-Ottavio Faria, Philip Alongi, Pamela Lloyd and Craig Ketter

It's about time someone showed Antonio Carlos Gomes some love and Opera Dolce was just the right group to do it.  The Brazilian composer, admired by Verdi and Liszt, is not exactly forgotten but neither is he remembered as he should be. Listening to arias and duets extracted from six of his operas, we were entranced by his way with melody. His compositional style always suited the character and the setting of the story, bridging bel canto and verismo. 

Reading the stories of the operas, happily included in the program, we learned that his plots were just as filled with love, jealousy, murderous rage and self-sacrifice as all the other mid-19th c. operas that we love so dearly.  Salvator Rosa, Maria Tudor, Joanna de Flandres, Lo Schiavo, Fosca and Il Guarany would all be perfectly wonderful given a full production.

For the moment, however, we were content to hear some fine large voices fill the space of the auditorium of Washington Irving High School, newly restored to Art Deco magnificence-- none of which distracted from the auditory treats. Sopranos Elena Heimur and Pamela Lloyd both have expansive sounds and the requisite dramatic intensity to get these arias across.  Glamorously gowned, they took possession of the stage with commitment to the material and communicated the passion to the audience.

Tenors Adam Cromer and Philip Alongi both exhibited the same assets--commitment, communication and passion.  Bass-baritone Andrew Costello filled the auditorium with a deep rich sound and bass Luiz-Ottavio Faria absolutely commanded the stage with a sound that reminded us of chocolate stout.  We particularly enjoyed his "Oh Dio degli Aymoré" from Il Guarany and "Di Padre, Di Sposo" from Salvator Rosa.

Other favorite selections included Ms. Heimur's love duet with Mr. Cromer--"Soli del Mondo Immemori" from Fosca, in which the pair achieved perfect balance and harmony of voices.  Mr. Cromer's solo from Maria Tudor, "Sol Ch'io ti sfiori", was especially lovely in the tender pianissimi moments.

In "Sogni d'amore" from Lo Schiavo, Mr. Costello's voice opened up beautifully under the influence of that gorgeous melody.  He showed another side of himself in the more lighthearted waltz "Senza Tetto" from Il Guarany, which reminded us of a drinking song.

Ms. Lloyd used her big bright sound to great advantage in "Vendetta" from Maria Tudor, backed by Maestro Rosenbaum's Canticum Novum Singers. In "Quale orribile peccato" from Fosca, she was called upon to show remorse for plotting a kidnapping and murder.

Mr. Alongi's solo "Intenditi con Dio" from Fosca was filled with passion and showed great dynamic control in an admirable diminuendo.  At the piano, Craig Ketter made a fine accompanist for all that drama and passion without ever drowning out the singers.

So...is there an adventurous company out there ready, willing and able to put one of these exemplary operas onstage?  We surely hope so!

© meche kroop

LOVE AND MARRIAGE, LOVE AND MARRIAGE...

Jeffrey Thompson and members of The New York Baroque Dance Company (photo by Louis Forget)

Thanks to Opera Lafayette, whose visits from Washington, D.C. are always welcome events, we were transported to  mid-18th c. France.  We were celebrating the marriage of the Dauphin with Maria-Josepha of Saxony; the culmination of a week of festivities was a piece d'occasion called Les Fetes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Egypte.  The marriage was a hasty one and Jean-Philippe Rameau had very little time to prepare so he pressed into service a heroic ballet in three parts he had just composed with libretto by Louis de Cahusac.  The work had been written for The Royal Academy of Music and all that needed to be added to suit the occasion was the prologue--a staging of the reconciliation of Amour (god of love) and Hymen (god of marriage).

Amour (adorable soprano Kelly Ballou, an audience favorite) pouts and sulks, fearful of Hymen's potential constraints.  Hymen (mezzo Laetitia de Beck Spitzer Grimaldi) reassures her and all ends happily under the watchful eye of Le Plaisir (tenor Aaron Sheehan).  The segment was directed and choreographed by Catherine Turocy whose excellent dancers from The New York Baroque Dance Company portrayed Les Grǎces in correct period style with joy and élan.

Act I comprised the story of  Orthésie, an Amazon Queen (soprano Claire Debono) who must overcome the objections of her aggressive confidant Mirrine (soprano Ingrid Perruche) in order to accept the offer of love from the god Osiris (tenor Jeffrey Thompson).  In this production (we have seen no other!) the Amazons have become South Asians, thrillingly danced by Kalanidhi Dance, whose director Aniradha Nehru choreographed and directed that segment with gorgeous exoticism.

For Act II, Sean Curran directed and choreographed the story of Canope, god of the Nile River (bass Francois Lis) who chastises his followers because they plan on a human sacrifice to appease him.  The proposed victim is the woman he loves and has courted under the guise of a mortal; her name is Memphis (Ms. Perruche) and she is ready to be sacrificed but Canope arrives at the last minute to save her.  Canope even gets in a line about gods wanting nothing to do with "odious priests".  Now there's a deus ex machina for you!  William Sharp lent his fine baritone to the role of the High Priest. The Sean Curran Company effectively portrayed the flowing river.

Catherine Turocy directed Act III, the story of Orie (Ms. Debono) who is in love with Aruéris, God of the Arts (Mr. Thompson) and wants to be loved for her beauty.  He must persuade her to express herself artistically which she does with some thrilling trills in her aria. Now he can love her for her art!  Ms. Grimaldi portrays a shepherdess and that shepherd whose tender tenor we would recognize anywhere was none other than recording artist Kyle Bielfield who contributes so much to the New York opera scene!

The voices were all topnotch but we must single out Mr. Thompson and Mr. Bielfield, not only for the purity of their voices but for their superlative French diction, for which no titles were necessary.  Ryan Brown conducted the lovely music with Andrew Appel providing the harpsichord continuo and Loretta O'Sullivan providing the cello continuo.  The music was sometimes restrained and at other times exploded into wild abandon--all of which was reflected in the choreography.

The success of the evening rested not only upon the musical and terpsichorean values but also on the visual.  The exotic costumes by Jennifer Tardiff Beall were nothing short of resplendent while The New York Baroque Dance Company provided their own costumes, equally gorgeous.  Masks and "Hymen's gift" were attributed to Jane Stein.  We believe that gift refers to the delightful scene-stealing ostrich prancing on human legs!  There was only one small false note in the entire three-hour evening.  In the last act Mr. Curran's choreography with its post-modern gestures seemed inapropos and intrusive.  Strangely, Ms. Nehru's choreography fit right in since it reflected the music.

We can scarcely wait for Opera Lafayette's return in May with Andre Grétry's "L'Épreuve villageoise".

© meche kroop

AT THE GREENE SPACE

Jennifer Johnson Cano

Michael Fabiano

When a singer we've been writing about makes it "bigtime" we get an incomparable thrill.  And that's exactly what happened at the Greene space last night when WQXR presented "Serenata Italiana", a very special evening celebrating some major talents.

Jennifer Johnson Cano, accompanied by her understandably happy husband Christopher Cano on the piano, threw heart and soul behind her stunning mezzo instrument to thrill us and everyone else present with highly dramatic renditions of an Italian aria, an Italian art song, and a Russian song added for good measure.

Vitellia's aria "Non più di fiori" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito was sung with gorgeous vibrato, enviable dynamic control and phrasing, true strength in the lower register, flexibility in the fioritura, lovely legato phrasing and a most exciting ritornello.  What more could one ask?

We have heard Liszt's "Pace non trovo" many times in master classes and know just how difficult it is to sing.  We have never before heard it sung by a woman until we heard Ms. Cano sing it, which we reviewed on a prior occasion.  This was a "sit up and take notice" event.  The lover's agony was performed with moving intensity that made sense of the text--Petrarch's superlative sonnet.  She ended with an exquisite decrescendo.  Major WOW!  We hope there will be a third hearing somewhere down the line.

Although the evening was meant to be an Italian one, we had no objections to the soul stirring performance of Rachmaninoff's "Spring Waters".  Ms. Cano is taking on the role of Hansel in the Humperdinck opera at the Met and should make an enormous success.

Tenor Michael Fabiano, capably accompanied by the always wonderful Laurent Philippe, absolutely blew the audience away with his powerful voice and enough intensity for a trio of tenors.  He offered "Federico's lament" from Cilea's L'Arlesienne, filling the room with Italianate passion.  Tosti's "L'alba separa dalla luce" was given equal intensity.  It is wonderful to witness Fabulous Fabiano's career skyrocketing.

Naomi Lewin interviewed both artists and it was fun learning interesting little facts about their lives and careers.  But when the magnificent Renata Scotto joined the group onstage, there was no denying the overwhelming impact of her outsized personality, manifested by wonderfully outspoken opinions, her expressive face and gesture, and a refreshing sense of humor.  We confess to being completely mesmerized.  What a worthwhile evening!

(c) meche kroop

DA PONTE DAY

Teresa Tièschky and Matthias Winckhler

On occasion of the celebration of "Da Ponte Day", the Austrian Cultural Forum presented a fine recital in their acoustically perfect small hall last night.  With impeccable scholarship, pianist Wolfgang Brunner assembled a varied program of piano music alternating with arias and duets by Mozart for which Da Ponte wrote the libretti. Two excellent young singers from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg were brought over to perform and we are delighted to report that they did justice to Mozart's music and Da Ponte's texts.

We have written several times about the challenges of singing lieder in a large hall--especially the challenge of creating intimacy.  In this case we had the opposite situation, one of scaling back large operatic arias and duets to suit a small hall.  This, the two talented young German singers accomplished without sacrificing the grandeur. Mozart must be "in the blood" so to speak.

Selections from Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte were presented--all the highlights we have come to know and love. Soprano Teresa Tièschky has the lovely light coloratura that we enjoy hearing and just the right personality for Susanna.  She introduced us to an aria we had never before heard which had been specially written for Adriana del Bene detta la Ferrarese for the 1789 revival of the opera.  The recitativo proceeded as expected but then...big surprise...no "Deh, vieni non tardar" but "Al desio di chi t'adora".  We'd love to hear it again!

Miss T. was just as charming as Despina and Zerlina and, in fact, sang another piece with which we were unfamiliar.  "Restate quà...Per queste tue manine", a duet with Leporello in which she ties him up! This duet was written for the first performance of Don Giovanni in Vienna in 1788. The part of Leporello was sung by Matthias Winckhler who has a graceful lyric baritone that falls gently on the ear.

Mr. Winckhler (untied) was even more impressive as Don Giovanni in the lovely serenade "Deh vieni alla finestra"; his duet with Ms. T. "La ci darem la mano" was enacted so well that the audience demanded an encore and we got to hear it again.  Significantly, the two young artists put a slightly different spin on it the second time which lent a sense of spontaneity that we genuinely appreciated.

Mr. W.'s flexibility of characterization was evidenced when he sang "Hai già vinta la causa!".  Perhaps Il Conte and Don Giovanni are both arrogant men but he showed us two different characters. His Guglielmo was an interesting third characterization.

All of this wonderful singing alternated with some rarely heard piano pieces, perfectly performed by Wolfgang Brunner.  So many composers wrote variations based on Mozart's operatic melodies, including his own son Franz Xaver Mozart who was only 14 years old when he tackled the minuet from Don Giovanni.  Sadly his father died when he was a baby but he surely inherited his father's genes.

The other composers we heard who had tackled such variations included Johann Baptist Cramer, Joseph Woelfl and Camille Pleyel (son of Ignaz).  All stood tall on the shoulders of the giant--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Three cheers for the artists, for the Mozarteum and for the Austrian Cultural Forum for introducing us to so many novelties and for doing such a fine job on the standard pieces.

© meche kroop