A VICTORIAN GOTHIC

 Kyle Decker Pitts as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

(photo by Brian Long)

We have spent entirely too much time searching for a typeface that would do justice to the darkly Victorian spirit of the compelling show we wish to tell you about. The spookier typefaces we tried were just not legible so let us just pretend. We don't want to waste any more time in urging you to try to grab one of the very few remaining seats to a performance that left us in utter admiration of its creativity.

The show, whilst not an opera, is operatic in scope. The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886 and adapted by the polymath Whitney E. George; it was performed as a melodrama with intense music (composed and conducted by Maestro George herself) and stunning visual effects (by Orsolya Szánthó). Excellent period costuming was also achieved by Mo. George (with help from the Theatre Development Fund).

Even if one is not a fan of Victorian Gothic melodrama one would find the telling of this tale to be compelling and the staging original. In a feat of trompe l'oeil, what appeared to be a complex set design was achieved by a doorway center stage flanked by two "rooms" upstage which were suggested by skewed rectangular frames, each behind a scrim, one representing Dr. Jekyll's laboratory and the other an office. A simple chair with an old-fashioned gramophone stood downstage. The staging area included stairways up to and including a wraparound balcony lending an immersive feeling to the work. 

Lighting was created by Sierra and projections by Orsolya Szánthó, who also created the set design. The entire affair was co-directed by Mo. George and Attilio Rigotti, who also played the part of Utterson. Obviously everyone seems to have multiple talents and are presumably members of The Curiosity Cabinet, listed as Producer.

The acting was on point, just  sufficiently melodramatic for the audience to appreciate the historical period. The eponymous hero/villain was played by Kyle Decker Pitts with his friend Utterson played by Mr.  Rigotti. Maayan Voss de Bettancourt made quite an impression as narrator, slipping seamlessly into several other roles. Blake Friedman also assumed several roles. It was difficult to accept that all this drama had been created by three actors!

Mo. George's music was original and often spooky and served a similar mood enhancing function as a film score. Indeed there was a filmic quality to the piece, reminding us of film noir. Joined by a violin, a flutist stage left seemed to be playing instruments of different registers, . Out of sight was a percussionist who provided all manner of sounds and sound effects. A cello was listed on the program but we did not see. 

It was altogether a stunning evening of theater and about as long as a film and no longer than was necessary. As is customary we always mention a "quibble" and here it is. It is just our preference for natural voices, not just for opera but also for theater. There is a texture to amplification that our ears do not like. We were sitting very close to the musicians and found that the "incidental" music, which was anything but incidental, often drowned out the words of the actors.

Even with that reservation, we still found the work original, artistic, compelling, and satisfying. If the psychiatric illness of multiple personality disorder was recognized in the late 19th century we know not; but we suspect that the import of the novella was the exploration of the dual nature of mankind. Whichever way you take it, you will be marvelously entertained.

© meche kroop

COMPRESSED, CHILLING, AND CONTROVERSIAL

 

Mary Phillips, Kelsey Lauritano, Freddie Ballentine, and Inna Dukach

(photo by Russ Rowland)

Heartbeat Opera's stripped down version of Samuel Barber's Vanessa is, we believe, the only opera ever presented at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. To us, this makes perfect sense. Under the direction of R.B. Schlather, Gian Carlo Menotti's dark exploration of psychological themes, some overt and others merely hinted at, became intensely theatrical. 

That is not to shortchange the music. Dan Schlosberg's arrangement of Barber's  pungent score for seven instrumentalists filled the Nagelberg Theater at Baruch with more than enough sound and uncommonly interesting textures evoked by Maestro Jacob Ashworth by means of intensity and clarity.

The singers were astutely cast with soprano Inna Dukach creating an almost bipolar Vanessa whose voice lightened in color as she anticipated a most unlikely happy future with the narcissistic Anatol (the Younger), portrayed with serpentine intensity by tenor Freddie Ballentine. In a performance that led us to think that the opera might just as well have been called Erika, mezzo-soprano Kelsey Lauritano commanded the stage in a role that seems to have been enlarged to encompass her larger than life talent. Indeed, the most famous aria of the work "Must the Winter Come So Soon" was cleverly reprised at the end.

Since our experiences with Ms. Dukash had been confined to a few badly amplified outdoor performances, her vocal and dramatic success came as a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, we reviewed Ms. Lauritano's performances at Juilliard more than a dozen times over ten years ago and we were particularly glad to hear and see her again. (One of the sad things about our work is that we get quite attached to promising young singers and then they leave for parts unknown to develop their careers because New York City has so little to offer.)  How wonderful that Heartbeat Opera has recognized her many gifts.

The same could be said for baritone Joshua Jeremiah whom Heartbeat Opera has included in their Hallowe'en drag extravaganzas and who created a marvelous character for On Site Opera several years ago. Creating memorable characters must be Mr. Jeremiah's specialty since his creation of the character of the bibulous Doctor was memorable. His baritone is as rich and full as one would wish for and his charming performance lightened up what amounts to a very dark opera.

Mr. Ballentine is new to us and he impressed with his tenor instrument and the way he colored his voice to show his character's opportunistic and manipulative character. There were some scenes of his making love to Erika that seemed a bit over the top

Not having much to sing, the excellent Mary Phillips commanded attention as the Baroness with her stoic bearing and facial expression which was in such contrast with all the histrionics going on with her daughter and grand-niece. The great mystery of the plot is her silent treatment towards Vanessa in the beginning and toward Erika at the end. Is she just sitting in judgment of their poor romantic choices? We found ourself wondering whether Erika was actually Vanessa's daughter conceived at the time of Vanessa's dalliance with Anatol (the Elder)! So perhaps The Baroness disapproves of out of wedlock pregnancy.

Forgive us Dear Reader for not outlining the plot but, since there have been so many reviews since the opening that we are just assuming you know the story which is not only noir but also psychiatrically compelling.

Mr. Schlather has trimmed the opera of its extraneous characters and stripped the story down to the neurotic behavior of the three women. The Baroness has been giving her daughter the silent treatment for 20 years. Now how rigid is that!!!  Vanessa has apparently had a sexual relationship with a married man and has been living a fantasy for twenty years--two fantasies actually--one that her lover will return and another that if she keeps the mirrors covered she will not age. Now how delusional is that!!!  Poor Erika suffers from youthful naivety and submits readily to the narcissistic charm of the man who invades this female territory; this puts her in the position of capturing her "mother's" lover, a kind of Elektra situation.

Jiaying Zhang has given Mr. Schlather the set design he wanted. Simply a minimalistic solid white background onto which Lighting Designer Yuki Nakase Link has projected ominous shadows. Terese Wadden's costumes for the women are all black. The exchange of roles at the end is signified by Erika wearing Vanessa's dress and pearls. In the original telling, Erika covers all the mirrors to show that she was taking over Vanessa's role. Without a manor house and mirrors, the costume exchange got the point across.

Although we have been highly critical of Heartbeat Opera tampering with the classics that we love, operas that are rooted in time and place, we seem to not care what they do with operas in which we have no emotional investment. We only saw Vanessa once years ago and we didn't love it. Frankly,we still don't! However, it certainly was an interesting night of theater.

© meche kroop

A TASTE OF POLISH CULTURE

 Katelan Trân Terrell and Magdalena Kuzma

 Last night under the watchful eye of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, whose portrait hangs in the grand second floor salon of The Kosiuszko Foundation, we experienced a completely fulfilling vocal recital performed by Magdalena Kuzma, a singer who has been reviewed here a number of times, ever since her fortuitous apprenticeship at Santa Fe Opera. Since then, she has been winning prizes from many prestigious foundations including the Marcella Sembrich Foundation, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the George and Nora London Foundation. We have heard her sing in Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian, Swedish and English. What we enjoy most are the Polish songs because we rarely get to hear them.

About Ms. Kuzma's instrument, it is large and lustrous, readily filling up the room with ringing overtones. However, it is the way she employs this instrument that dazzles the ear.  First of all, there is the way she shapes the vowels, no matter how consonant heavy the language. Yet, the consonants are crisp and never cheated. This is a kind of vocal legerdemain that we cannot explain. Each vowel is savored as if it had its own unique flavor.

And then, there is the phrasing, always apt, always musical. Still, most important from our point of view, is the storytelling.  Ms. Kuzma gives the appearance of losing herself in the drama, belying the fact that every expression and gesture must have been arrived at with forethought, intention, and diligent practice.

A pair of songs by Chopin impressed us as much as his Nocturnes. "Wish" was simple and tuneful whereas "Spring" gave us the flavor for which Chopin is so well known--the melancholy that creeps into an otherwise happy mood.

Szymanowski's "Consider well, mother" was a highly dramatic song in which a young woman seems to be reasoning with her mother over what might have been an unwanted arranged marriage. Her beauty is transitory and she seems to want to make her own choices. Forgive us, Dear Reader, if our imagination has taken over! Let's blame it on Ms. Kuzma's dramatic intensity causing us to invent an entire backstory!

Exceeding the rest of the program in dramatic intensity was Halka's Act IV aria from the eponymous Moniuszko opera, the plot of which reminds us of a plot from a zarzuela. A peasant girl has been promised marriage by a nobleman and impregnated. The squire will marry an aristocratic woman. The girl, after contemplating a horrific revenge, endures a change of heart and kills herself. A reading of the plot does not indicate that she gives birth but in the aria she sings to a child (perhaps still in the womb?). Our fine soprano did an admirable job of illuminating Halka's grief, despair, and rage.

Lest one conclude that the entirety of Act I was filled with loud passion, a pair of familiar Duparc mélodies ("Extase" and "L'invitation au voyage") were perfumed with Gallic delicacy and stylistic elegance.

Finally, Manon's Act II aria from the Massenet opera "Adieu, notre petite table" clearly illuminated Manon's characterological ambivalence. Her greed for worldly wealth has triumphed over her lust for Des Grieux. She will shed a dramatic tear or two, we can be sure, and Ms. Kuzma did a superb job of showing us.

The material chosen for the second half of the program was of less interest to us, inasmuch as it was predominantly 20th century and mostly in English. We found our attention focusing on the exceptional pianism of Katelan Trân Terrell whose accompaniment in the first part of the program was so admirably supportive. This shift of focus happens to us often and we wonder when composers lost their facility with vocal lines whilst retaining marvelous complexity in the piano.

We loved the moody piano in Charles Griffes' "Three Poems of Fiona Macleod" and the flowing ripples in Sibelius' "Var det en dröm" which augmented the dreamlike text, taking Sibelius' contribution to new heights.

We have a soft spot in our heart for The Kosziuszko Foundation which contributes so much to the New York City cultural landscape. In the same way we are happy to be reminded of the multiple many faceted contributions made by Tadeusz Kosciuszko to the American Revolution. If you are not aware of him, we urge you to read about it. He was a true hero! 

© meche kroop

HARRY T. BURLEIGH AND ANTONIN DVOŘAK

 

 

Joseph Parrish, Alexander Fortes, and Margaret Kampmeier

Sponsored by Five Boroughs Music Festival, The Orchestra of St. Luke's has presented a program, as enlightening as it was entertaining, across all five boroughs of New York City, culminating in Monday's performance at the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library which, fortunately has a beautiful and comfortable theater. The theme of the recital was "Finding an American Voice" and featured New York City's preeminent young baritones, a gifted violinist, and a worthy pianist, all of whom conspired to entertain and educate.

Baritone Joseph Parrish has been dazzling us for the past few years, not only by means of a highly burnished baritone but also by his engaging stage presence. Through his performances we have become interested in African American music, about which we had known almost nothing. That this music inspired one of our favorite European composers came as a surprise and has led to some self-education. Music tends to do that, especially for us.

Anonín Dvořak, he of the melodic symphonies and the composer of the much loved opera Rusalka, was lured to New York at the end of the 19th century to helm the National Conservatory of Music. Not only do we adore Dvořák's music but we feel a special attachment to his legacy, having lived for three years in an apartment next door to the brownstone he occupied with his family whilst he was in NYC.  (We were fortunate to have been given a tour by one of the residents who showed us a bronze plaque. Tragically, Beth Israel Hospital's expansion led to the demolition of this house and we shed a few tears over it.)

What was new to us was his artistic partnership with one Harry T. Burleigh who was a student at the conservatory and assistant to the great European master. Having heard baritone Burleigh singing spirituals, Dvořák became entranced and incorporated the melodies in his works. We are a bit embarrassed to admit that we always assumed that these wonderful melodies were Czechoslovakian folk tunes.  Well, Dear Reader, now we know better and so do you!

Mr. Parrish comes from an ecclesiastical family so his ease with spirituals comes naturally. In addition to his musical gifts, one cannot help but be impressed with his ability to communicate the emotions of the music by means of vocal color and not by excessive showmanship. Every time he performs he introduces us to songs we had never heard, along with some with which we had only a vague familiarity.

In addition to a set of spirituals we heard a set of art songs composed by Burleigh that stand alongside those of Stephen Foster as emblematic of the American experience of the 18th century. We would like to list the spirituals for you so that you can find them online and enjoy the depth of feeling as much as we did. "Little David Play on Your Harp", "I Got a Home in-A Dat Rock", "Dry Bones" and the somber "My Lord, What a Morning". We particularly enjoyed Mr. Parrish's use of falsetto for the ending of the first selection, and his use of dynamics in the second.

In another set, he introduced us to several of Burleigh's art songs. We enjoyed the blatant romanticism of the melody in "The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face", and the vocal swells of "Tide". "And As the Gulls Soar" was brief and impressionistic. A gentle prelude by pianist Margaret Kampmeier introduced the pensive "The Dove and the Lily".

Not only was Ms. Kampmeier a fine piano partner for Mr. Parrish, but also served violinist Alex Fortes very well. The Allegro movement from Dvořák's Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75 was tuneful and switched readily from major mode to minor. The Sonatina in G major for Violin and Piano, Op. 100 comprised four movements, beginning with a dance-like Allegro in which the melody was tossed back and forth between piano and violin, highlighting Mr. Fortes' impeccable artistry. A plaintive Larghetto led to a spirited Scherzo and a Finale Allegro featuring rhythmic syncopation and some well executed trills on the violin.

No less wonderful was Southland Sketches for Violin and Piano with it's folksy Andante, lyrical Adagio, an Allegretto that featured variations on Stephen Foster's "Suwanee River" ("The Old Folks at Home"), and ended with a propulsive and lighthearted Allegro that reminded us of a Rossini opera.

Both instrumentalists succeeded at conveying the many colors and moods that characterize Dvořák's instrumental work and also allowed us to hear how the master's sojourn in New York and his collaboration with Harry T. Burleigh added so much dimension to his output. We listened. WE. enjoyed. We learned. What more could one ask for?

© meche kroop

A DIVINE COMEDY

Enes Pektas as Gianni Schicchi

Having succeeded so admirably in last year's production of Il Tabarro, Classic Lyric Art Vocal Academy has continued with their production this year of another part of Puccini's Il Trittico--Gianni Schicchi. And what a great choice it was, making full use of CLAVA's ability to collaborate as an artistic community to create a work that was greater than the sum of its parts.

These "parts" comprise an astute director (Daniel Isengart) who knows how to come up with original ideas and then to trust the cast members to take these ideas and run with them; a musically gifted conductor (Mo. Michelle Rofrano); a superlative pianist who created an entire orchestra with ten fingers (Luc Xu Cheng) and a gifted group of singers, members and graduates of CLAVA. These singers, having spent so much time with their colleagues, are imbued with ensemble spirit. There is no individual grandstanding, each singer served the telling of the tale.  And tell it they did!

Like Verdi, Puccini tackled comedy rather late in his career at the age of 60. Both of these Italian titans avoided the slapstick humor of Rossini (which we also love) and used their comedic gifts to shed light on human foibles. Verdi's Falstaff invites us to laugh at the pomposity of a Shakespearean knight of centuries earlier, whereas Puccini used humor to shed light on one of the less attractive features of Italian culture as exemplified by Dante in his Divine Comedy, also written centuries earlier. One might conclude that the temporal distance from the butt of humor makes it easier to laugh at.

No doubt there are still grasping families who can't wait for an elderly progenitor to leave this world so they can enjoy the benefits of his wealth. It is all in the telling of the tale and  Mr. Isengart told it well, making ample use of choreography that varied from chaos-- as the Donati family ransacks their dead relative's home for his will-- to elements of swirling unity as they agree on a common plan.  The character of the eponymous Schicchi is based on a real person, someone related to Dante's wife. As usual, the dramatist heightens and amplifies reality to make a dramatic point.

Puccini's librettist Giovacchino Forzano took Dante's story and embellished it, much as Mr. Isengart put his own stamp on it. What we most appreciated about the storytelling was that each character differentiated him/herself. As many times as we have seen this opera we could never tell one member of the family from another. Perhaps it was the clarity of direction and the dramatic skill of the singers, or perhaps the fact that we were sitting on the front row, we had no problem differentiating one from another.

The adorable Gherardino (Iris Whelen) was the first onstage, totally convincing as a little boy. His father Gherardo (Samuel Ng) and mother Nella (Estelina Syla) left no doubt about their annoyance with the child. Tia Zita (Miastasha Gonzales-Colon) convinced us that she was matriarch of this squabbling family and totally in control of her nephew Rinuccio (Fernando Silva-Gorbea) and his hoped for marriage to the lower-classed Lauretta (Laura Soto-Bayomi). Rinuccio's idea to bring Lauretta's father Gianni Schicchi (Enes Pektas) on board to help the family will be his ticket to romantic fulfillment.

And there's impoverished  Cousin Betto di Signa (Christopher Lau) and the wise patriarch Simone (George Baolin) with his son Marco (Henry Horstmann) and Marco's wife La Ciesca (Sofia Durante). All of them grasping, all of them furious that the dead Donato has left his wealth to the monastery, all of them willing to have Schicchi perjure himself to make themselves wealthy.

Alejandro De los Santos portrayed both doctor and notary with Quinlan Sellars portraying Pinellino the cobbler, both adding to the comedy.

And oh, how Puccini's musical ideas heighten the drama. The opening rhythmic motif that stirs our funny bone, the dirge that accompanies the phony grief of the Donati family, the lyrical love song that stirs our heart "Lauretta mia, staremo sempre qui!", the ladies' trio "Spogliati, bambolino!", and Rinuccio's philosophical paean to Florence "Firenze è come un albero fiorito". What about the most famous aria of the opera? "O mio babbino caro" was given an original interpretation that made perfect sense. Lauretta is just as devious as her father and is manipulating him into securing her future. Mr. Cheng was masterful in capturing both lyricism and humor, confusion and despair whilst Mo. Rofrano's firm conductorial hand kept it all together.

Missing were the lavish Florentine set and costumes and we can only say that the fine musical and dramatic values made them superfluous. The grieving family all wore black and the set comprised nothing but a four-poster bed for the dying Donato. Nothing more was needed.

Regular readers know that we are sick and tired of directorial conceits that must be elaborately explained in the "Director's Notes". This production managed to tell this story of comeuppance in a most relatable way with the most meager of resources. Mr. Isengart's notes were strictly academic and intellectual backstory for those who find such background information worthy of reading. Thankfully, there were no narcissistic ramblings and justifications.

It is thrilling to watch Classic Lyric Arts develop their performing arm. Although the selection of operas is probably designed to show off the talent that is available on any given year, as an audience member we felt as if the work had been chosen for our delight. The enormous space that held the performance and audience members was absolutely packed and very deserving of a proper theater with raked seating. From the front row we had no complaint but we wondered how the people in the rear fared. We cannot help but wonder why the best city in the United States has no suitable small theater. Any ideas, Dear Reader, will be welcome and passed along.

As you may know from our prior writings on the topic, New York City badly needs a small opera company to present the best of the canon in authentic productions. With our three music conservatories producing strange operas that no student needs in their repertory (I'm looking at you, Mannes) or putting weird spins on familiar works (I'm looking at you, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music), we support CLAVA's gradual expansion and are pleased to note that next season may bring us two productions.  Stay tuned!

© meche kroop

GIULIO GARI FOUNDATION HONORS A MAJOR STAR AND SOME RISING ONES

 

Aprile Millo

The presence of esteemed and legendary soprano Aprile Millo must have been an inspiration for the young artists who entertained us Sunday at the annual Winner's Concert of the Giulio Gari Foundation. What a superb legacy of the late tenor! Awarding young singers is a not only a source of funding but an encouragement in a world that offers lots of heavy work for slim rewards.

Sunday's concert gave us the opportunity to acquaint ourself further with the gifts of seven young artists, all of whom  we have heard before and enjoyed. The splendid Mary Pinto accompanied them with flourish.

Let's do "ladies first"! We have reviewed Soprano Luna Seongeun Park a half dozen times recently, her having won awards from all of the award giving foundations in New York. What impressed us is her tackling so many different arias in different languages and styles and excelling at all of them. On Sunday, she commanded rapt attention from the audience as she created the character of Musetta who commands attention from the crowd at Café Momus in Puccini's La Bohême. 

Concluding the program was a duet with Son Jin Kim, in which she created a not-so-unwilling Zerlina who holds out for a credit card before exiting with the Don Giovanni of Mr. Kim, about whom more later. It was a clever wrinkle in Mozart's opera and the audience enjoyed it immensely. This gifted young soprano has many more roles ahead of her.

Mezzo-soprano Ruijia Dong employed a pleasing legato as she interpreted "O ma lyre immortale" from Gounod's lesser known opera Sappho. There was a divine depth and fine facility in French that pleased the ear. This was quite a change from our recollection of her weirdly costumed Ruggiero in Händel's Alcina at Mannes College for Music. As you may have guessed we prefer to focus on the voices than on trying to figure out some director's self important concept.

We really enjoyed Ms. Dong's performance of Angelina's final aria from Rossini's Cenerentola "Non più mesta". This is the test of any mezzo's mettle what with its rapid fire fioritura and large leaps. Our singer passed with flying colors and managed to also create a sympathetic character leaving us with pleasure at her "happy ever after" condition.

This was our second time hearing soprano Anna Thompson in a month, since she just won an award from The Gerda Lissner Foundation. She really got into the role of Rosalinde pranking her husband in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Both slow and fast sections were compelling and the German was on point.

As for the men, the afore mentioned bass Son Jin Kim made a fine impression in this generally late maturing fach. He showed a real flair for comedy in Don Basilio's comic aria "La calunnia" from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. His technical assurance permitted a gradual buildup of excitement and his well thought out gestures contributed to the success of the performance.

This very extroverted aria was finely contrasted with the more introspective "Cavatina" from Rachmaninoff's Aleko in which Mr. Kim sustained the sad mood of loss--loss of youth and loss of love,  since his fickle Zemfira has abandoned him for a young lover. There was an effective contrast between his melancholy first section and the second section in which he remembers a happier time.

We had one more opportunity to take the measure of Mr. Kim's talent when he took the role of Don Giovanni seducing Zerlina in Mozart's eponymous opera. So this marvelous  bass gave us a dose of fun, a dose of melancholy and one of manipulation, all within an hour!

We also got to hear two fine tenors. We first reviewed Ben Reisinger when he was a baritone and noted his superb upper register in "O vin, dissippe la tristesse"  from Thomas' Hamlet. Then we heard him at a master class when he was struggling with the transition. We are pleased to report that the transition is now a complete success. He completely captured Lensky's pathos in "Kuda, kuda" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. An appropriate vibrato lent just the right color to his voice and his command of dynamics was best appreciated in a delicate and moving diminuendo. Furthermore he handled the linguistics well, not allowing the difficult consonants to cheat the vowels.

The other tenor Alec Carlson performed "O tu che in seno agli'angeli" from one of our favorite Verdi operas La Forza del Destino. We observed a fine Italianate embouchure, beautiful legato phrasing, and a reassuring lack of tension at the top of the register. The long held "money note" was lovely. We have reviewed Mr. Carlson a number of times, at competitions and at Santa Fe Opera. We are impressed that he has such a diverse repertoire.

We also heard a fine baritone who delighted the audience with "Some Enchanted Evening" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. We have no problem appreciating this as an aria from an American opera; but in spite of a worthy performance there was something missing, something cultural. The character of Emile de Becque is a specific one. He is French and he has his secrets. Falling in love with an American Army nurse was unexpected and the singer needs to convey the wonder of it all. Very few singers nowadays study the character and the situation, so performances tend to come across as generic and imitative. I hope that Yoonsoo Jang will put in a bit more work towards making the aria his own. We heard him recently creating the character of Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale so we know he is up to the challenge.

It was a fine evening and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with citizens of Planet Opera and to hear young artists who will carry the torch into the future. All we need is a small opera house in Manhattan so we can put them all to work!

© meche kroop

LIFE, DEATH, SPIRIT, AND ART

 A Night at Greenwood Cemetery with Death of Classical

When Andrew Ousley announces an event we don't think twice before accepting. We did, however, wonder what the connection was between The Metropolitan Opera and Greenwood Cemetery. We are quite familiar with the Mexican Day of the Dead and the manner in which it is celebrated, especially in Oaxaca, on October 3lst and November 1st. We have honored the day in our home with an ofrenda and pan de muertos. We have even dressed up as La Catrina.

Likewise, we have visited museums in Mexico City and the colorful labor oriented murals of Diego Rivera in public buildings. We have marveled over the deeply unsettling paintings of Frida Kahlo that show us the world of a woman severely injured in an accident who transformed her chronic pain into art. And now, we have learned of an opera utilizing contemporary music, a Spanish language libretto, and magic realism to tell the tale of two tempestuous lovers who fought as hard as they loved. This opera will open at The Metropolitan Opera on May 14th and is entitled El Ultimo Sueno de Frida y Diego.

Imagine a panel discussion of said opera in Manhattan, drawing a handful of curious opera lovers. Now imagine a huge crowd packing a central area of Greenwood Cemetery, at least an hour's distance from Manhattan (Culture Central). Imagine paying big bucks to attend.  Who could accomplish this?

Wonder no longer. Who else but impresario Andrew Ousley of Death of Classical who knows how to get people excited about something. This won't be the first event of his that got us to leave the confines of Manhattan! Mr. Ousley manages to pull things together to make people want to participate

In this case, there were Mexican dancers and singers scattered about and many tables of fine tequilas as well as intriguing elixirs for the teetotalers. There was the excitement of waiting in line and experiencing something unique--an EVENT, if you will.

The main event, so to speak, was a panel discussion between composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz;  they were interviewed by Mila Burns who got them to answer all the questions one might have about a new work of art--the inspiration, the intention, the realization, the difficulty of getting produced. 

The opera, which we hope to see, is a telling of the tale of Kahlo returning to earth on the Day of the Dead, as spirits in Mexico are wont to do, and encountering Rivera. The tale will be told utilizing magic realism, a literary device with which we are familiar from the literature of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a device that seems to work best in the hands of Latin Americans; with gringos, not so much.

As much as we enjoyed hearing from the two creators, we enjoyed even more hearing excerpts from the work sung by soprano Vanessa Isiguen who sings the role of Catrina and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard who portrays Kahlo. We first heard Ms. Isiguen in 2012 as part of a Marcello Giordani concert and in 2014 in a concert at Mannes College of Music. We began writing about Ms. Leonard about the same time period and her superb performances made their way into our blog at least a dozen times until her star rose way beyond the horizon of "emerging artist" that we write about. What a pleasure it is for us to see these "emerging artists" outgrow that designation.

The male artists, on the other hand were new to us. Baritone Carlos Alvarez took the role of Rivera and the spiritual part of Leonardo was sung by Nils Wanderer whose countertenor suited the role perfectly. Renowned pianist Howard Watkins served as accompanist.

We have found a photo of a Diego Rivera mural which portrays the artist walking alongside La Catrina with Kahlo a bit behind. Let us try to put a portion of the very large and detailed mural below. It would seem to summarize a lot of the intention of the opera.

© meche kroop