BLEAK HOUSE

Laura Wilde (Jenůfa), Gina Perregrino (Herdswoman), Katherine Beck (Karolka), Kathleen Reveille (Mayor’s Wife), and Richard Trey Smagur (Števa Buryja) (Photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera)

Contemporaneous with Puccini, Leoš Janáček wrote a very sad opera about sin and redemption in a small Moravian village; Jenüfa premiered in1904 after six years of compositional labor; it would not be heard in the composer's original version for seventy years. This is one of the first "prose" operas.

The grim story deals with issues of unrequited love, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, fraternal envy, violence, and infanticide. The eponymous heroine (soprano Laura Wilde) is in love with the fickle Števa (tenor Richard Trey Smagur) and is carrying his child. His half-brother Laca (tenor Alexander Lewis) is envious of Števa's favored position in the family and is jealous of Števa's relatioship with Jenufa. How this all works out is a gripping story.

Two elements pleased us even before attending the performance. Firstly, the opera is sung in Czech; this is a difficult language but every time we hear it sung we are impressed by how wedded are word and vocal line. Janácek wrote the libretto himself so this element is particularly important.

Secondly, the opera has been cast with singers we know and love, some of whom we heard last year as Santa Fe Apprentices, others we know from conservatories in New York or from competitions.

One of the hallmarks of a great production is that one can identify with the characters and care about them. The fact that the piece was updated to the mid-20th c. did not detract from its impact. This story might even take place today in a small town gripped by religious fundamentalism.

The eponymous Jenufa has been captivated by a man of poor character who seduces her and abandons her when her face has been disfigured. Who could not identify with an innocent young woman who falls for a narcissistic man! Soprano Laura Wilde (once an 
apprentice at Santa Fe Opera) used her generous instrument and agile body to create a Jenufa we could really care about. The dénouement of the drama finds her accepting her fate and possibly finding happiness with Laca. All of the emotions she experienced were revealed through vocal coloration and body language---anticipation, joy, anxiety, despair, grief, forgiveness, and reconciliation. What a stunning performance!

As Kostelnička, soprano Patricia Racette turned in a highly memorable performance. The intensity of her vocal expression and the measured use of vibrato made her a sympathetic monster. Under the stress of living in a religious community as the widow of the church warden, her experience of shame over her step-daughter's pregnancy and her efforts to find the best for Jenufa clashed with her religious beliefs; her desperate act left her feeling sick and guilty. Ms. Racette made her climactic realization --how she loved herself more than others -- convincing evidence of her emotional growth.

As the rascal Števa, tenor Richard Trey Smagur (well remembered from his Apprentice performances) created a character imbued with childish narcissism, caring only for his own desires--drinking and philandering. Whilst Jenufa was grieving he was busy courting the daughter of the Mayor. Mr. Smagur created a thoroughly detestable character but sang so well we were ready to forgive him anything. Additionally, he has a compelling stage presence that dominated the stage.

Tenor Alexander Lewis, whom we haven't heard in a few years, sounded terrific as Laca. Sulking around the stage as a grievance collector when the opera opens, he explodes with anger and slashes Jenufa's face. By the end of the opera he has matured emotionally; forgiven by Jenufa, he seems prepared to make a good husband for her. All of these emotions were made clear by Mr. Lewis, both in his vocal coloration and in his posture.

We enjoyed the performance of baritone Will Liverman, also a former Apprentice at Santa Fe Opera. His character was the foreman of the mill which Števa inherited and had the task of announcing the fact that Števa had not been drafted. His voice always lends a sense of import.

Renowned mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, a Santa Fe resident, created the role of Grandmother Buryjovka, mother-in-law of Kostelnička, and a seemingly kind woman who can also swat her wayward grandson with her purse. She became increasingly frail during the three seasons in which the opera takes place

Several apprentices graced the stage with their presence in smaller roles. Alan Higgs gave a fine interpretation of the self-satisfied mayor with Kathleen Reveille creating the character of his wife---critical and all too ready to humiliate Jenufa. Their daughter Karolka was portrayed by Katherine Beck as the superficial flighty beauty that Števa was going to marry. The three of them just made sense as a family.

Making brief appearances but sounding great were Gina Perregrino, Sylvia D'Eramo, Jana McIntyre, Kaitlyn McMonigle, Danielle Beckvermit, and Benjamin Taylor.

The chorus of Apprentices appeared as townfolk and sounded sensational, as usual. We loved the folk dances choreographed by Maxine Braham.

Maestro Johannes Debus honored Janáček by revealing all the colors of his palette. Our esteem for this composer grows every time we hear his compositions. His writing underscores the action at every turn. We loved the duet between mother and step-daughter which seemed more tuneful than the writing for solo voice. When Kostelnička sends Jenufa to bed, the orchestral writing has the quality of a lullaby. Our favorite passages are almost always the most lyrical ones but last night we found much to love in the forceful and dramatic ones.

Director David Alden similarly honored the work. His direction put a lot of space between the characters which emphasized their loneliness and isolation. There wasn't much love in this family! Fortunately, there wasn't even a whiff of directorial arrogance. Alden wisely allowed the tale to speak for itself.

Charles Edwards' minimalist set design neither added nor detracted but it was stunningly lit by Duane Schuler, who created chiaroscuro effects with dramatic shadows on the walls. We liked the way the boarded up windows exploded when the boards were removed and a storm occurred, lending verisimilitude to the storm within the family.

Jon Morrell's costumes were a propos to a small European village in the mid-20th c.. The folk dancers were colorful and the family drab. The mayor's wife and daughter were more lavishly costumed as befit their lofty position in the local society.

Unfortunately, this was the last performance of the season so unless you have already attended you are out of luck. But there is plenty more artistry to look forward to. We are looking forward to tomorrow's La Bohême and the Sunday Apprentice recital.


(c) meche kroop

PIG-TURE PERFECT

Gorgeous Gloria, as sketched by Doug Fitch

You have exactly two opportunities to catch Gloria--a Pig Tale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:  tonight at 7:00 and Sunday at 2:00.  Since this is the first contemporary piece that left us happy and artistically fulfilled, we want you to share our joy. By some mysterious magic, all the elements of music, story and design came together in a delightful barnyard stew.

The fine music by the Viennese composer HK Gruber has the jazzy and raucous flavor of German cabaret mixed with French comic opera.  One could not have asked for a better performance than that given by Juilliard's AXIOM ensemble comprising a solo violin and harp, two percussionists, and lots of wind instruments including our beloved bass clarinet, tuba, flugelhorn and several varieties of saxophone.  As conductor, the eminent Alan Gilbert not only led the ensemble but joined in the fun.  There was a stunning moment at the end of Act I when the musicians quit the ensemble one by one, leaving only the violinist bowing away at her instrument.  One could not help thinking of Poulenc's Dialogue des Carmelites.

The libretto by Rudolf Herfurtner is a lot more sanguine than Janacek's  well known The Cunning Little Vixen, making it suitable for children.  The story concerns a very beautiful pig named Gloria who has glorious golden curls.  She is, as they say, "pretty as a pig-ture" and, like Cunegonde in Bernstein's Candide, she knows it.  But she is different from her swinish family and feels lonely and rejected.  At the end of Act I, she dreams of her Prince Charming and the music becomes absolutely luminous.

But the man she expects to rescue her from her sad state turns out to be (YIKES!) a farmer who means to butcher her.  And then the REAL prince charming shows up, a wild boar named Rodrigo, and comes to her rescue.  In the epilogue, there is a family of piglets and Rodrigo feels.....trapped.

The success of this whimsical tale rests upon the artistic design and for this we must thank the director, costume designer and co-set designer Doug Fitch.  The masks were witty and, realized by Anna Yates, outstandingly effective, allowing the singers voices to emerge successfully while still conveying pigs and boar, not to mention the frogs and birds and sausages.

About those singers we have nothing but praise.  Each of the five cast members assumed many roles.  Soprano Lauren Snouffer made a winsome pig and tenor Alexander Lewis shone in the role of the farmer/butcher.  Mezzo Brenda Patterson and baritone Carlton Ford were also excellent while bass Kevin Burdette almost stole the show as a sexy wild boar with a most effective boar's head around his torso which nodded when he moved his pelvis.

We loved the chorus of frogs and the duet for sausages.

Co-Set Designer was Kate Noll and Lighting Designer was Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew.  The fairy-tale designs were colorful and apropos.

We have only one small criticism.  The English diction left much to be desired and, although the gist of the story was easy to understand, we missed a lot of the dialogue which we think was probably too clever to be missed.  We would have appreciated projected titles or, even better, to have heard the work in it's original German since it is a work of singular Austrian flavor.  There is no point in presenting a work in translation if the English is not crystal clear.  The English version was by Amanda Holden.  Maestro Gilbert warned us at the beginning that we might not understand the animals who were speaking gibberish, but that was only a small part of the libretto.

This work was part of the New York Philharmonic Biennial Festival and a worthy entry.  Giants are Small was founded in 2007 by the above-mentioned Doug Fitch and the Swiss filmmaker and producer Edouard Getaz with multimedia entrepreneur Frédéric Gumy.  We can barely wait to see what they come up with next.

© meche kroop

THE FINAL CURTAIN

Alexander Lewis and Brian Wagorn

The season of recitals by Lindemann Young Artists ended with a bang of an encore--"Our Times" from Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, as fine an aria as was ever written in bygone centuries and accorded the same respect by the thrilling tenor Alexander Lewis.  The entire recital was remarkable and it was obvious from the very start that Mr. Lewis chose songs that he loved and related to.  We felt as if we were invited into Mr. Lewis' world.

Mr. Lewis' world is broad in compass; he uses his expressive voice along with gesture and body language to convey the deepest meaning of a song, be it funny, sad or ironic.  The texture of his timbre is as pleasing as it is varied and he thankfully never pushes for a high note, a fault of most young (and not-so-young) tenors that hurts our ears.  As a matter of fact, his technique is so refined that one never notices it and is able to focus on his artistry.

He opened the program with selections from The Purcell Collection which were realized by Benjamin Britten.  Mr. Lewis' cheekiness, most notably in "Pious Celinda goes to Prayers", married well with the nature of these brief jewels but he switched gears readily for the tragic "Elegy on the Death of Queen Mary", sung in Latin.

Following, he sang eight charming songs written by Schubert when the composer was but 17-18 years old, an age at which today's youth is doing nothing more than skateboarding or watching TV.  The texts by Ludwig Hölty are delightful and have been set by other composers.  Each and every one merited second and third hearings, imbued as they are with the freshness of youth.

We know Bellini as the composer of operas in which the arias have long arching phrases, so beloved by singers and listeners.  His song "Torna, vezzosa Fillide" took us by surprise with its short phrases.  It was composed for voice and piano but Bryan Wagorn's exuberant pianism brought in all the richness of a full orchestra.  Arpeggios, chords and runs seem to drop like pearls from Mr. Wagorn's fingers.  Mr. Lewis conveyed every drop of the shepherd's despair as he mourned his lost love.

Reynaldo Hahn's Venezia, a collection of lovely graceful songs, was performed in such an Italianate style that we were sure Mr. Lewis had some secret Italian genetic material.  We do love barcarolles and Mr. Wagorn's piano had us swaying in our seat.  Some of the songs are incredibly romantic and others are ironic.  Mr. Lewis' dramatic chops echoed his talents on the opera stage, which we have long enjoyed.

The judges who gave awards to Mr. Lewis certainly knew what they were doing.  It took a lot of hard work to make everything look so effortless!

© meche kroop

KEN NODA FILLS OUR EASTER BASKET

Ken Noda

The collaborative piano work at Schubert&Co. has left nothing to be desired; Artistic Directors Jonathan Ware and Lachlan Glen are equally superb.  Still, to have the illustrious Ken Noda to come and play with tenor Alexander Lewis is another feather in the Schubert&Co. cap.  Mr. Lewis hails from Down Under but his singing is strictly Tip Top; his musical theater background served him well in the set of songs in which a very young Schubert availed himself of the poetry of Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty.

Mr. Lewis interpreted the songs with as much nuance as Mr. Noda did at the piano, emphasizing every subtlety.  We enjoyed the seasonal contrast between "Winterlied" and "Frühlingslied" but we especially loved "Die Mainacht" and would love to hear Schubert's setting on the same program as Brahms'.  In "Die frühe Liebe" the humor was conveyed with Mr. Lewis' entire body.  Fortuately, the songs had been committed to memory and there was no music stand interposed between his intense performance and the appreciation of the audience.

The remainder of the program was superb in different ways.  Mezzo Jazimina Macneil's warm and richly round voice plus astute word coloring  were well used in the opening set, settings of poetry by Aloys Wilhelm Schreiber, Josef Ludwig Stoll and Johann Ladislaus Pyrker.  Mr. Ware's soft touch in the piano gave way to some powerful playing that emphasized the mystery and awe of Pyrker's "Die Allmacht".  That was some fine teamwork!

Soprano Simone Easthope has a brilliant sound that resonates to the farthest reaches of Central Presbyterian Church, where most of these Schubert@Co. recitals are held.  Mr. Glen's piano and her voice melded to perfection in two of our favorite Rückert lieder "Du bist die Ruh" and "Sei mir gegrüsst".  Familiarity tends to please the ear and we were contemplating how much more we would appreciate a second and third hearing of some of the less well known lieder we have been hearing all year at these thrilling recitals.

And finally let us commend the outstanding baritone Michael Kelly who was also accompanied by Mr. Ware.  Two lovely Schreiber songs, the romantic "Der Blumenbrief" and "Das Marienbild" were followed by the familiar "Lachen und Weinen" with its poignant major-minor shifts and the unbearably mournful "Das ich hier gewesen" with its descending scale motif.  One could write an entire paragraph on what Mr. Kelly did with the word "verlangen" in Rückert's "Greisengesang".

Once again Schubert&Co has provided us lieder lovers with a cause to rejoice.  Our Easter basket has been filled to overflowing.

© meche kroop

 

COSI FA JUILLIARD

       


We cannot seem to get enough of Juilliard.  From undergraduates trying out their performing wings at the Liederabends to fully professional rising stars, performances are invariably of the highest quality.  Last night's opening of Così Fan Tutte is a case in point.  In cooperation with The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School presented a performance of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte that would be a winner in any big city in the world.  It was astutely cast with gifted young singers from both houses and directed by the esteemed Stephen Wadsworth.  The superb Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, did credit to their training and also to Maestro Gilbert's intense guidance and rapport with the instrumentalists.  Mozart's melodies were handled with both sensitivity and gusto.  The harpsichordist was Bryan Wagorn.

What about this strange story, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte? It is strange because it is funny and tragic at the same time.  What makes it amusing is the moral and actual blindness of the two sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella who fail to recognize the disguises of their fiancés and their servant Despina.  What makes it tragic is the resulting moral uncertainty as to which of the two men each young woman really loves as well as the price paid for confusing love and lust.  In these dark times of ours, Director Stephen Wadsworth has chosen to emphasize the dark side of the opera which is generally played as a piece of fluff.  Even the comic antics have an edge of disturbing hysteria.  There is no happy ending here as the four lovers are literally brawling at the end.  There is also a great deal of anger in Mr. Wadsworth's concept, manifested by overturned furniture and thrown objects.  Yes, love is painful and happy endings are not realistic.  So we must accept our failures and disappointments.

The two sisters were well cast.  Soprano Emalie Savoy brought Fiordiligi to life as the more conflicted of the two.  Her "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona" was beautifully sung and the trace of tightness in her Act I "Come scoglio" was gone.  Mezzo Wallis Giunta portrayed Dorabella, the somewhat more adventuresome of the two; she is as lovely to look at as to listen to.  We especially enjoyed her "Smanie implacabile".

Mezzo Naomi O'Connell was pure delight as the wily servant Despina, seemingly evolved from the commedia del'arte tradition.  She was full of lively energy and exhibited fine technique in "Una donna a quindici anni".  Her advice to her two mistresses kept the audience giggling and her mannerisms firmly established the differences in social class.  She managed to portray the doctor and the notary with a minimum of "shtick".

The two friends fared equally well in both vocalism and dramatics.  Tenor Alexander Lewis was a charming Ferrando who sang a lyrical "Un'aura amorosa".  Baritone Luthando Qave gave a fine performance as Guglielmo who lords it over Ferrando after having seduced Ferrando's fiancée Dorabella; after Ferrando seduces the reluctant Fiordiligi, he "sings a different tune".

Bass Evan Hughes was most convincing as Don Alfonso and succeeded in establishing his character during the overture.  He charmed us in his aria "Oh, poverini, per femmina giocar cento zecchini?" in which he mocks the two young men who accept his wager.

The entire cast, a symmetrical one to be sure, operated successfully as an ensemble and created believable characters.  Duets, trios and ensembles were beautifully balanced.  The size of the house was perfectly matched by the size of the voices.

The Scenic Design by Chalie Corcoran and the Costume Design by Camille Assaf were true to period (18th c.) and place (Naples) adding to the verisimilitude.  Lighting by David Lander was spot on, without calling attention to itself.