GOUNOD'S ROMEO ET JULIETTE AT SANTA FE OPERA

Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez (photo by Ken Howard)

Last night's performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette soared with stunning singing and some mighty marvelous musicianship. The chorus (directed by the incomparable Susanne Sheston) sang with such fine French diction that not a word was missed.  The orchestra, under the baton of Harry Bicket, captured all of Gounod's nuance.  This was a co-production with the Fundacio del Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. The opera was making its first appearance at The Santa Fe Opera.

Gounod's success with Faust some 8 years earlier was arguably matched by this adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare by the same librettists who adapted Goethe's masterpiece--Jules Barbier and Michel Carre. Gounod was a master melodist and both operas leave one humming--a very good sign in our estimation.

The opera hews rather closely to the Shakespeare play with a few minor changes and a few deleted characters. To suit the operatic mentality, the librettists chose to focus on the romance between the two young lovers. Nonetheless, in our day and age, with gun control and belligerence on the front page every day, we cannot fail to miss the major point that meaningless hostility between any two groups--be they religious, political, or cultural--leads to irreparable loss to all concerned. We got the message when, at the conclusion of the opera, the opposing parties lay down their swords. Would that all mankind would get the message!

Returning to the issue of melody, the opera includes a breathtaking aria in waltz time for Juliette--"Je veux vivre"; one of our favorite sopranos Ailyn Perez performed this aria with technical mastery equalled only by the sparkle of youthful high spirits. During the course of the opera, Juliette must convey emotional growth from these adolescent high spirits to the solemn lifetime commitment to Romeo,  through the panic of risk-taking to the ultimate grief of loss. These emotional changes were nicely negotiated by Ms. Perez whose instrument has a lovely silvery tone. Her phrasing is impeccable and her French, perfect.

The opera has four duets occurring at different stages of the relationship between the two young lovers. Tenor Stephen Costello, whom we always enjoy, was at the top of his form, allowing his fine sound to soar with freedom of expression. Their two voices blended harmoniously in just the way we want a soprano and tenor to blend.  His "Ah! leve-toi, soleil" was brilliant.. Mr. Costello is appearing at The Santa Fe Opera for the first time. We hope he will return.

And what a pleasure it was to hear baritone Elliot Madore in the role of Romeo's friend Mercutio. His "Queen Mab" aria was delivered with vocal excellence and dramatic validity.  It is too bad that Mercutio gets killed off so early! We would have to say that Mr. Madore owns this role and, if you miss him here in Santa Fe, you can hear him sing the role at The Metropolitan Opera in New York.

As the young page Stephano, mezzo-soprano Emily Fons impressed us as favorably as she did when she performed the role of Cherubino three years ago.  But we didn't know she could dance!

Bass Raymond Aceto whom we enjoyed as Wells Fargo agent Ashby in Fanciulla del West, demonstrated his versatility in the role of Frere Laurent.

Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel portrayed Juliette's nurse Gertrude and portrayed her successfully.

The role of Tybalt was well-sung by apprentice Cooper Nolan whose versatile tenor was enjoyed Sunday night in the role of Stiffelio in the Apprentice Recital.

As Juliette's father Count Capulet, baritone Tim Mix used his substantial instrument and stage presence to create a formidable character.

In contrast with the superlative musical values, the production values were disappointing. Director Stephen Lawless chose to remove the story from its natural time and place--Renaissance Verona--and set it in Gounod's own period.  Instead of civil unrest we had two opposing armies, one dressed in red, the other in blue. (Had they been blue and grey we might have been thinking of the American Civil War). In place of a monk in a monastery, we had a doctor in an army field hospital who took off his (bloodied) white coat and joined Romeo and Juliet in marriage right there in the hospital!

Perhaps Mr. Lawless meant to create an abstract symbol for all such internecine wars.  But in our opinion, it works better to stick to the specifics of time and place and allow the audience to generalize to their own situations.

The costumes by Ashley Martin-Davis were gorgeous and we loved the way the chorus stripped away their mourning black to reveal white ball gowns.  However, the 1860's fashions seemed terribly incongruent with the story and Ms. Perez' gown seemed quite inappropriate for an adolescent.  As a matter of fact the voluminous fabric seemed to swallow her up.

We were equally dismayed by Ms. Martin-Davis' set design.  We seemed to be in some kind of mausoleum which might have worked for the final tomb scene but which did not work well for Juliette's residence. The walls were divided into squares, each bearing a name. Watching the opera from the 8th row, we could make out the names which was distracting. They were mostly British names. Did this mean we were in England?  In America? Was there a body entombed behind each plaque? In truth, it looked like a morgue and we half expected the doctor to slide one open.

But that didn't happen.  What did happen was that doors opened and closed with singers entering and exiting. It made neither dramatic sense nor spatial sense.

So once again we have reveled in the musical artistry and despaired over "concept".  We will take our opera "neat", thank you, without the concept.

(c) meche kroop

APPRENTICE SCENES FROM SANTA FE OPERA

Mary-Hollis Hundley and Jacquelyn Stucker in a scene from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro  (photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

One of the best musical events taking place in Santa Fe in August takes place right in the gorgeous opera house a short drive north of the center of town.  We are speaking of the Apprentice Scenes, of which there are two evenings.  The first one took place on August 14th and the second one will take place on August 21st.  We always organize our visits to The City Different to include both evenings. It is our chance to hear the stars of tomorrow and we wouldn’t miss it for the world

Under the direction of David Holloway, the Apprentice Program carefully selects emerging talents whose stars are on the rise in the operatic firmament. Many of them are invited back for a second year of training and some of them will appear in subsequent summers in one or more of the five main operas.

The first of the two evenings provided many delights along with exposure to young artists, some of whom are new to us and others whose careers we have been following for the past few years. Some we know from competitions, some from their schools, and some from other programs.

These young artists also serve as members of the chorus or in small roles in the five operas presented over the summer.  But in the Apprentice Scenes, we get to see them in starring roles—as exciting for us as it is for them.  And not just for us, but for the crowd that packs in for the same reason as we do.  As an added bonus, the tickets are incredibly reasonable for such fine entertainment.

Most entertaining of the eight scenes presented was the final one on the program, which left the audience smiling. We long ago lost count of how many times we have seen Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro without ever losing our appreciation and enthusiasm for this divine comedy. In this case, the entire cast sang and acted in such a manner that brought out all of librettist Da Ponte’s humor. 

The scene chosen was the one in which the angry jealous Count and the anxious Countess return to the Countess’ boudoir to expose the hidden Cherubino.  The two sopranos were equally superb with Jacquelyn Stucker portraying the spunky Susanna and Mary Hollis-Hundley creating a lovely and dignified Countess.  As the furious Count, Jorge Espino went from rage to embarrassment to puzzlement. 

Arriving on the scene later were a quartet of characters, each with a different agenda but joined in a delightful dance. Bass-baritone Andrew Simpson made a very funny Antonio. Tenor Stephen Carroll portrayed the slimy Don Basilio; mezzo-soprano Nadia Farad enacted Marcellina with bass James Harrington as Don Bartolo.  

Kyle Long’s direction was delightful, eliciting every ounce of humor from the crazy situation. Maria Noel Nieto’s costumes were beautiful and accurately representative of Mozart’s period.

Similarly superb was the scene from Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, effectively directed by Matthew Ozawa, in which Grigori (tenor Andrew Marks Maughn) arrives at an inn close to the Lithuanian border. He is traveling in the company of two monks—Misael (tenor Stephen Martin) and the hilariously drunken Variaan, perfectly portrayed by bass David Leigh. 

Thanks to Russian opera we get great roles for brilliant basses!  We loved the brilliant bass Onay Kose in the role of Nikitch, the illiterate police officer. In a serious work like Boris Godunov, it is particularly welcome to have some comic relief; here, the monks took turns translating the arrest warrant to point the finger of suspicion toward the other.  Mezzo-soprano Mariya Kaganskaya made a fine Innkeeper with a lovely voice and stage presence. Nicole Grebb’s costumes were perfect.

Kathleen Clawson directed the scene from Giuseppi Verdi’s Stiffelio in which the hero confronts his unfaithful wife. We were so pleased to see tenor Cooper Nolan—well remembered from his starring roles at The Manhattan School of Music some years ago—as the enraged eponymous minister.  As his cheating wife, soprano Rebecca Krynski Cox, also remembered from MSM, went through several emotional phases without compromising her fine vocal technique. We liked Phoebe Miller’s authentic costume design  which, along with the wonderful singing, created a fine opener for the evening.

We enjoyed a wonderful trio of tenors in Gioachino Rossini’s Armida—the scene in which the knight Rinaldo (Peter Scott Drackley) must be rescued from the spell of the sorceress of the title. Benjamin Werley sang Ubaldo and the role of Carlo was taken by Adam Bonanni, whose crystal instrument soared. The three voices in harmony created a unique sound. Kyle Lang directed effectively and Jeni O’Malley’s costumes were splendid with Rinaldo lounging in linen and the two rescuers storming in wearing impressive armor.

The sorceress Armida is not present in this scene but in a scene from G. F. Handel’s Alcina, the eponymous sorceress is very much present.  Personified by the beautiful soprano Jacquelyn Stucker, Alcina is a force to be reckoned with as she uses every trick in the book to win the knight Ruggiero away from his beloved Bradamante.  The two mezzo-sopranos were excellent with Kirsten Choi as Bradamante and Briana Hunter giving an equally fine performance as Ruggiero. Director Jordan Fein staged the romantic triangle quite cleverly making use of a swiveling chaise longue.

So we were rather puzzled by Mr. Fein’s clumsy staging of Verdi’s La Traviata. Jailene Torres’ costumes disappointed equally. Violetta (Rebecca Nathanson) is supposed to be in her sickbed at dawn with Annina sitting vigil at her bedside.  But NO!  Violetta enters in a contemporary ball gown with Annina in street clothes.  The undressing made no sense and the collapsing and rising from the floor was not congruent with the libretto or the music.

The scene was abruptly truncated at an awkward place, but not until Alfredo was lying on the floor on top of the dying Violetta!  The staging was so disruptive that it interfered with our appreciation of the singing, although the entrance of Alfredo brought in the arrestingly pure tenor of Galeano Salas, almost making us forget the sins of direction.  We want to hear more of mezzo-soprano Evanna Chiew who sang the role of Annina and sang it well under adverse circumstances.

Those who favor contemporary opera probably enjoyed Matthew Ozawa’s staging of John Adams’ Nixon in China. We didn’t enjoy the opera some years back at the Metropolitan Opera, and didn’t enjoy it any more upon second hearing. Although the instrumental music, reminiscent of Philip Glass’, is interesting, the vocal lines are not. The singers are asked to deal with the difficult diphthongs of English at the very worst part of their range. Furthermore, intellectual sparring does not strike us as the right topic for an opera.  We most enjoyed the trio of Chinese secretaries—Evanna Chiew, Kristen Choi, and Nadia Farad.  If one can have three tenors, why not three mezzos!

The scene from Kismet struck us as silly.  Although we adore Alexander Borodin’s music, the work belongs on the Broadway stage— even with the finely trained operatic voices of Chelsea Davidson, Stephen Carroll, Jorge Espino, and James Harrington. We generally love to hear Broadway musicals performed in an opera house with trained voices, but the libretto here is just not worth Borodin’s music.

(c) meche kroop

PUCCINI'S SPAGHETTI WESTERN (or Minnie, Get Your Gun)

Mark Delavan and Patricia Racette (photo by Ken Howard)

Puccini's heroines have been called "piccole donne" but upon closer examination we observe that they have great strength of character.  In the case of La Fanciulla del West, seen last night at the Santa Fe Opera, Minnie, the titular character, manages to handle a large diverse group of gritty miners and also to fight for her man.  The libretto was derived from Girl of the Golden West, a play by David Belasco, who also wrote the play which inspired Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Belasco wanted to portray the West with a realism unknown at the turn of the 20th century. The men in the mining camps of  mid 19th c. California participated in the Gold Rush to provide for their families or to get rich.  They came from all over and often suffered from despair and loneliness. Somehow we were made to think of Ping, Pang, and Pong  in Puccini's Turandot, longing for the peace and comfort of home.

Minnie is a notoriously difficult role to sing but soprano Patricia Racette rose to the challenge, tackling the difficult tessitura with her customary aplomb and throwing herself completely into the role, earning a vociferous standing ovation at the end.  Minnie, with all her life experience, has never been kissed and experiences her first romance with the gentleman bandit Ramerrez, alias Dick Johnson, who is leader of a band of highwaymen, come to her saloon probably to rob the men of their savings.

They fall in love and Minnie, with impressive loyalty, overcomes her anger at the deception, and hides Johnson (tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones) from Sheriff Jack Rance (bass-baritone Mark Delavan). Both male roles were sung with fine tone and commitment, providing a dramatic situation of great suspense.

We particularly enjoyed the scene in which Minnie, generally an honorable sort, resorts to cheating at poker to make sure that she beats Rance, who is so taken with her that he was willing to pay $1000. for a kiss--a kiss she happily gave to Johnson for free. At this point in the story, Puccini's music fades away and there is only the low murmur of the kettle drums. Of course, we know what is going to happen and yet Puccini's magic had us on the edge of our seat. 

Emmanuel Villaume's conducting was exemplary, as was the work of the chorus (directed by Susanne Sheston).  Actually, the miners are not exactly a chorus, since each man has a name and a specific personality.  One of them, Larkens (Adrian Smith), is so lonely and depressed that his buddies take up a collection to send him home. Baritone Craig Verm made a fine showing as the reasonable Sonora. The Wells Fargo agent Ashby was well portrayed by bass Raymond Aceto. The sizable role of Nick the bartender was finely enacted by tenor Allan Glassman.

We recognized several of the Apprentices as well, including baritone Jared Bybee as Handsome,  tenor Galeano Salas in the chorus, and a strangely pregnant Wokle sung by Kristen Choi .

If there was any fault to be found in this splendid evening, it would have to be the production, which was a co-production with the English National Opera.  Director Richard Jones seemed to lack a feel for place and period and the spare sets by Miriam Buether  failed to convince.  The saloon had a tin ceiling but the bare metal tables and chairs looked entirely too slick and modern.  And why would the Marshall's Office have a large picture window? Mimi's cabin did sport gas lighting but looked neither weathered nor thrown together. It reminded us of a skier's A-frame.

We did like the set-up of showing Minnie's office off to one side of the saloon and another room to the other side, where the miners withdrew to dance with one another, somewhat reminiscent of the four young men of La Boheme who prance around their garret to keep their spirits up.

 

The miner's costumes (Nicky Gellibrand) were appropriately scruffy but Minnie's dresses did not suggest the period of the Gold Rush.

The hanging scene in the final act was particularly poorly handled. We can surely overlook the lack of horses onstage but there was no scaffolding set up, nor even a tree-- just a box only a few inches off the ground and a rope descending from on high. This hanging would never have worked!

Fortunately, the excellent cast and marvelous music trumped the production's shortcomings.

© meche kroop

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

Yen Yu Chen, Louis Ong, Isabella Stollenmeier, Jessica Doolan, Keith Chambers, Jessica Gonzales-Rodriguez, Lisa Nava, Rachel Gomes, and Rebekah Hartie

It was the Gay 90's when composer Engelbert Humperdinck provided music for lyrics written by his sister Adelheide Wette--songs for children derived from a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The maestro picked up that ball and ran with it, scoring a major musical touchdown with an opera that thrills children and adults alike--Hansel and Gretel.  Who cannot relate to a tale of sibling relationships, parental frustration, and the difficulty of providing for children!

The two siblings in Hansel and Gretel are barely surviving their hunger in a situation of privation. The breaking of a pitcher of milk becomes a major tragedy and the despairing mother sends the children to gather berries in the wood. When Father comes home with food that he earned selling his brooms at a festival, he alerts Mother to the danger of allowing children to go into the forest where lives a Wicked Witch who eats children.

Fortunately the children have some beneficial forces at work to protect them--a Dew Fairy and a Sandman who provides healthy respite from the cares of the day.  The children manage to beat the Witch at her own game, shoving her into the very same oven in which she transformed live children into gingerbread cookies.  All ends happily in a version less gruesome and frightening than the Grimm Brothers' original.  The cookie-kids are even restored to life.

Maestro Keith Chambers of the New Amsterdam Opera and Artistic Director Carlos Tagle provided a fine presentation of this musically glorious work--sung in fine German by participants in the Manhattan Opera Studio. The orchestra was situated on one side of the long narrow Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center; it was an unusual configuration but it worked, allowing the audience to get up close and personal with the performers.

We loved hearing the original German, although the projected titles were not translations of the German that we heard sung but rather rhymed couplets belonging to an English translation. Happily, the singing was as fine as the German diction.

Jessica Doolan has a lovely soprano and an engaging manner that made her a fine  childlike Gretel. Jessica Gonzales-Rodriguez' mezzo-soprano made a satisfactory Hansel but we hope that she will do some work on mastering masculine mannerisms, in order to be more believable in a pants role.

We particularly enjoyed baritone Louis Ong as a forceful father appropriately concerned about his children. Mezzo-soprano Rachael Gomes portrayed the Mother.  As the cannibalistic Wicked Witch, Isabella Stollenmeier needed a big dose of nastiness to be convincing, whereas Yen Yu Chen was all sunshine as the Dew Fairy. Rebekah Hartie did well as the Sandman.

The major pleasure of the evening lay in Maestro Chambers' effective conducting of the reduced orchestra in which the horn and clarinet played major parts.  Humperdinck made liberal use of folk melodies which he orchestrated with fine harmonies reflective of Wagner.  There were moments in the overture when we thought of Parsifal. The prayer is familiar, as is the sibling dancing song. But it is always a treat to hear the entire score.

We were not thrilled with Lisa Nava's direction.  Many of the instructions in the libretto were ignored and the characters rarely faced one another.  It appeared as if they were directed to face the audience. The four singers never seemed to form a family.  We wanted more menace from the witch.

The setting comprised a couple of tree stumps and some brooms made of twigs.  Nothing more was needed. Costumes were cleverly improvised with the Dew Fairy making quite an impression with her sunny yellow dress and parasol.

On the whole, Manhattan Opera Studio provided a delightful exposure to this wonderful opera.  We  were able to hear a single cast but would gladly have heard it twice.

© meche kroop

OPERA TO DIE FOR

Jason Graae, Michael Pilafian, Veronica Loiacono, Edgar Jaramillo, Jodi Karem, Elena Heimur, Roberto Borgatti

Judith Fredricks, Artistic Director of Opera New York, came up with the perfect theme for last night's Opera/Cabaret at The Metropolitan Room--it was all about operas ending in death. But she also came up with a compensatory final scene illustrated above--the "Libiamo" from Act I of Giuseppi Verdi's masterpiece La Traviata--a celebration of life.  This masterstroke ensured that the audience would leave smiling, not weeping over the sad fates of Violetta, Cio-Cio San, Turridu, Carmen, and Tosca.

Scenes from each opera were extracted and presented with narration by host Jason Graae (who plays a mean oboe).  The major focus seemed to be on Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Soprano Veronica Loiacono made a touching Cio-Cio San with her intense acting matching the glories of her voice. As Suzuki, mezzo-soprano Jodi Karem made a fine supporting presence and tenor Edgar Jaramillo excelled as Lt. Pinkerton. We enjoyed the love scene, the flower duet which was performed in perfect harmony, and Cio-Cio San's lamentable suicide sung with heartbreaking intensity.

Scenes from Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana followed with a curious twist.  Ms. Loiacono performed the role of the seductive Lola which is normally given to a mezzo, and Ms. Karem took the lead as Santuzza, a role generally sung by a soprano!  That they both were extraordinarily effective is evidence of their versatility. Mr. Jaramillo took off his jacket and dug deep into the role of the fickle and ill-fated Turridu who gets stabbed offstage, in contrast with Cio-Cio San who committed hara-kiri in full view of the audience, leaving the ladies at our table gasping for breath.

Ms. Karem returned to her usual fach for the death scene from Georges Bizet's Carmen with Mr. Jaramillo as her murderously jealous lover Don José.  Ms. Loiacono jumped to her death as Tosca.

After these two brief numbers, a number of scenes from Verdi's La Traviata served to whet the appetite for the missing bits. Our tubercular courtesan Violetta was passionately performed by soprano Elena Heimur who had to negotiate three very different stages in Violetta's sadly truncated life.  In her Act I scene, performed with Mr. Jaramillo as her Alfredo, she is about to fall in love.  In Act II, after Mr. Jaramillo did justice to Alfredo's joy in "De' miei bollenti spiriti", she must face Alfredo's father with dignity.  And in Act III, she is on her death bed, exhausted by her illness, and collapses into Alfredo's arms.

Baritone Roberto Borgatti made a fine Germont Père, who has come to Violetta's country retreat to get her to make the ultimate sacrifice--to give up Alfredo whose scandalous affair is about to ruin his daughter's chance to make a favorable marriage. (Autre temps, autre moeurs!) Here, Ms. Heimur was called upon to show her nobility of character.

And Germont is required to begin with severity towards a woman of whom he disapproves and to end with some compassion for her.  Mr. Borgatti handled this beautifully, as well as his subsequent "Di provenza il mar, il suol", in which he must console his devastated son. We recall well Mr. Borgatti performing the entire opera a couple years ago with New York Opera Exchange. He was superb then and even better now.

The versatile accompanist for the evening was pianist and Artistic Director Michael Pilafian.  Significant contributions came from Mr. Graae's oboe.

This program will be repeated Sunday night at 7:00.  It is not to be missed!  It's a fine way to introduce people to opera in a relaxed setting and minus the longueurs.

Additionally, there will be two nights of operetta at the same venue on Thursday at 7 and Friday at 9:30.

(c) meche kroop

GERMAN AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE SUNG

Henry Meyer-Oertel, Aeneas Humm, Magda Gartner, Babette Hierholzer

It was a special evening.  It was a VERY special evening. It was a most rewarding lieder recital given by the German Forum at the lovely home of German Consul General Brita Wagener, 42 stories above the congested streets of midtown Manhattan. 

There are two very special qualities to appreciate about the German Forum. One is the valuable performance opportunities they provide for German speaking young artists; the other is the valuable entertainment and stimulation they provide for their members and guests. Membership comes at a modest cost and the socializing before and after the recital is always gemütlich, whether one is German or not.

Last night's recital brought back two gifted artists whom we reviewed last February (review archived); we were thrilled for the chance to hear them again. The program comprised both lieder and opera duets.

Mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner opened the program with Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben, a highly dramatic song cycle he composed in 1840, just ten years after Adelbert von Chamisso wrote the poetry. We don't care that the poetry has been criticized for taking the position that a woman's life revolves around a man. This was written in the 19th c. and such was often the case. Listening to the text gives us insight into "a woman's love and life".  Indeed!

But listening to the music provides emotional content which amplifies our experience. Schumann's writing conveys many aspects of love, as it grows from childlike adoration to mature acceptance of the responsibilities of love, the satisfaction of motherhood, and eventually to the pain of loss.

It is up to the singer and collaborative pianist to show what the poet tells. Each time we hear this cycle we hear something new, as one tends to do with great music. Last night, Babette Hierholzer, Artistic Director of the German Forum,  accompanied mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner in a fine performance of the cycle.

Ms. Gartner's voice has a lovely caramel-toned timbre that she employs well with apt phrasing and lots of feeling. The frivolity of an infatuated young girl gave way to the serious consideration of the responsibilities of marriage. The ambivalent joys of the wedding day yielded to the unambivalent joys of motherhood. A new roundness of tone crept into Ms. Gartner's voice.  The hollow barrenness of widowhood in the final song was relieved by the postlude in the piano which reflected back to the beginning joy.

Ms. Gartner has a firm hand on all these colors; we sense that she is on the right track with her interpretation and that she will continue to develop even more subtleties of coloration.

We were as excited to hear an undiscovered lied as Ms. Gartner had been to find the score--in a flohmarkt, of all places!  Composer Robert Fischhof (1856-1918) came from a Viennese family with musical talent on both sides. He studied with Bruckner and Liszt, but his voice is his own. 

Ms. Gartner committed herself completely to his "Stark wie der Tod" which challenged the very bottom of her register but did not defeat it. The sentiments of poet Theodor Salzburg-Falkenstein came across beautifully and the vocal line swelled to a glorious climax.  We wanted more from this all-but-forgotten composer!

Taking over for the second half of the program was baritone Aeneas Humm, a youth of twenty years with a mature instrument that belies his tender years. Already famous in the German speaking world, his talent has been recognized and celebrated abroad. Here in New York City, this is only our second time hearing him but it surely won't be the last.

He chose to perform selections from Schumann's Dichterliebe, a cycle of songs about a poet's love, with text by Heinrich Heine. This cycle also requires many changes of vocal color as the poet moves from hopefulness to ecstasy and adoration of the beloved. Mr. Humm colored his voice darkly for the lower register of "Im Rhein, im schönen Strome" and conveyed all the bitterness in the ironic "Ich grolle nicht". In "Aus alten Märchen" he captured the dreamlike essence of a fantasy and changed abruptly when the poet confronts his reality.

It was such a pleasure to hear German sung by native born Germans without having to worry about diction!  But Mr. Humm also gave us a lovely song in fine French--"Le Fugitif" by contemporary Berlin composer Alexander Liebermann, whose work we so admired in last February's recital. The setting of text by Paul de Roux was rapturously rendered by composer, pianist and singer.

Next on the generous program were three duets by Mendelssohn, written originally for two sopranos. Settings of texts by Heinrich Heine, they allowed the two singers to adjust their voices to one another and blend in 19th c. harmony. Our favorite was the gentle "Abendlied", a contrast with the final song "Wasserfahrt", a propulsive song in which a sailor deals with the loss of love.

We were fortunate to have two encores--duets by Mozart--quite fitting since Mostly Mozart has just begun at Lincoln Center (reviewed yesterday). In "Il core vi dono" from Cosi fan tutte, Dorabella and Guglielmo pledge their love.  In "La ci darem la mano", from Don Giovanni, the eponymous hero succeeds in luring Zerlina to his castello.

Mr. Humm is returning to Europe and we hope we won't have to wait to long for his return.  Ms. Gartner however will be performing in the upcoming Dell'Arte season and we are looking forward to hearing her next month.  And so should you!

© meche kroop

OUR HEARTS ILLUMINATED!

 "The Illuminated Heart"--Selections from Mozart's opera performed at the 50th Anniversary of Mostly Mozart

Not even the rainy weather could dampen the spirits of the glittery members of the sell-out crowd gathered to celebrate the opening-night program of Mostly Mozart, Manhattan's yearly summertime orgy of music-making.  It was an auspicious beginning with a veritable cornucopia of talent onstage and a conducting genius in the pit.

Maestro Louis Langrée got the evening off to a rousing start with the lively overture to Le nozze di Figaro, inarguably one of Mozart's best operas, although even his less wonderful offerings will never be neglected. Onstage, we had a servant girl doing chores, tossing laundry into a basket in time with the chords--a most effective bit of stagecraft. She wiped the walls on which words were projected; as she did so the words disappeared. This was probably the finest moment for the visuals.

Mozart was a master of melody and a champion of characterization. A great artist can sing one of his arias and, in a holographic miracle, the entire opera takes shape before your very eyes. There was no shortage of great artists onstage last night.

Capturing our heart was soprano Nadine Sierra for whom we have a special fondness, having started reviewing her work when she was considered "promising". Her promise has been fulfilled. She delights the ear with her silvery soprano and involves one with the inner life of the character she portrays.

As Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, deceitfully promising Count Almaviva her sexual favors, there was no doubt in how she felt about her employer and his unwelcome advances. When he pulled her onto his lap, you could just tell that she was physically aware of his arousal (to put it delicately). Her scene partner, baritone Peter Mattei, conveyed all the blindness and feelings of entitlement that Lorenzo Da Ponte intended in the brilliant duet "Crudel! Perchè finora".

Ms. Sierra was brilliant in every role-- but the role which totally blew us away was one we'd never heard before from an opera which Mozart never finished. We were so enthralled by "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben" from Zaide that we longed to see Ms. Sierra perform the role in its entirety; we were sad to learn that only parts of it survive.  So...a superb concert piece it will remain. Ms. Sierra produced such a finely wrought decrescendo that we held our breath.

Soprano Christine Goerke blew us away in another manner.  She is a veritable force of nature and sang Elettra's aria of rage "O smania! O furie! ...D'Oreste, d'Aiace" from Idomeneo. Her steely soprano cuts through an orchestra like a knife through butter and swells to fill the farthest reaches of any theater. Her emotional commitment drags you into the aria and all its pain.

A fine showing was made by soprano Anna Maria Martinez and mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte; their voices blended beautifully in Mozartean thirds in "Ah, guarda sorella" and later, with Mr. Mattei as Don Alfonso, in "Soave sia il vento".

Ms. Martinez was riveting as Donna Elvira in "In quali eccessi, o Numi...Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata" from Don Giovanni. We loved the way she colored each section differently as she went through all the emotions of a woman scorned by a man she can't stop loving.

When mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa sang "Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio" from La clemenza di Tito we realized that one may readily think of it as a duet with clarinet. Jon Manasse's clarinet echoed the vocal line in such an artistic fashion we wondered why we had never heard it so clearly before. Ms. Crebassa also did credit to herself in a duet with Ms. Sierra from the same opera--"Ah perdona al primo affetto".
  
As a matter of fact, there was much in Maestro Langrées conducting that brought new clarity to old favorites.  It was also admirable the way he controlled his Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra so that they supported each singer.  No one was drowned out.

A rewarding performance of the difficult "Dalla sua pace" from Don Giovanni was given by Matthew Polenzani; he was at the very top of his form both vocally and dramatically. The phrasing, the coloring, and the timbre joined with his tasteful gestures to create a picture of a man besotted and submissive to his adoration of the ambivalent Donna Anna.

Only baritone Christopher Maltman failed to impress with a somewhat lackluster "Champagne Aria" from Don Giovanni and a charmless "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from Die Zauberflöte.

These were just the highlights of the evening which ended with the Finale of Le nozze di Figaro--bringing us back full circle.

As much as our heart was illuminated, the faces of the singers were not. We wish we could be as enthusiastic about the direction, design, and illuminations of Netia Jones or the lighting of Andrew Hill-- but we cannot.

On the positive side, there were some charming moments of direction that were dramatically valid. Projections succeeded at creating the illusion of depth in the hall's shallow stage; costumes effectively suggested 18th c. silhouettes while highlighting the cut and fabrics of contemporary times. But many of the projections were weak or non-specific, or unsupported by the story.  If mixed media is going to replace sets then it had better be more effective.

Happily, that minor disappointment did nothing to tarnish the luster of the voices. After an intermissionless 90 minutes, we left fulfilled.  But we would have gladly returned for another 90!

(c) meche kroop