THE RISING STARS OF THE DESERT SKY

Pianist Cody Martin and singers Zachary Owen, Mariya Kaganskaya, Katrina Galka, Alyssa Martin, and Joseph Lattanzi

Tucson is the birthplace and home of Arizona Opera which has been building an audience for opera in Arizona since 1971. Their programming is eclectic and, judging by the performances we heard last night at The National Opera Center, the people of that gorgeous state are getting the highest quality.

For those of us who cherish the future of opera, it was a golden opportunity to hear the rising stars of the desert sky. The recital by Arizona Opera Studio Artists was part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series. For us personally, it was an opportunity to witness the growth of two lovely ladies we had enjoyed in Santa Fe, as part of their Apprentice Program--and to be introduced to three more singers of whom we hope to hear more.

The overall quality was impressive and it is no wonder that these young artists are receiving awards and filling roles around the country. We were delighted to learn that two of them will be in Santa Fe this summer so we will get to hear them again. The others will be at Glimmerglass and if that venue were more accessible for non-drivers, we would go to hear them as well.

Opening the program were soprano Katrina Galka and mezzo-soprano Alyssa Martin in "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" an ardent love duet from Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. Ms. Galka's soaring soprano was perfect for Servilio and Ms. Martin's performance as Annio had plenty of breadth.

The scene from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte in which Guglielmo seduces Dorabella "Il core vi dono" was so convincingly performed that our mind filled in the set and the plot of the entire opera.  Mezzo-soprano Mariya Kaganskaya was an ambivalent but willing Dorabella, succumbing to the seductive blandishments of a very persuasive Joseph Lattanzi. Both have voices we would describe as creamy-dreamy.

The next few duets were in French, which is far more difficult to sing.  If the diction was not perfect, it was creditable and mostly understandable. We loved the harmonies produced by Ms. Kaganskaya and bass-baritone Zachary Owen in the scene from Massenet's Cendrillon in which Pandolfe tries to comfort his disappointed daughter--"Ma pauvre enfant cherie".

We have never been a fan of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande but we absolutely adored the love scene "Mes longs cheveux descendent jusqu'au seuil de la tour". The eroticism was as thick as molasses until the angry Golaud appears on the scene. The versatile Ms. Martin was perfect for Melisande and Mr. Lattanzi's legato served him well as the besotted Pelleas. Mr. Owen proved a threatening Golaud. We wondered whether our newborn affection for this opera came from the ardency of the vocal performance or the beautiful pianism of Cody Martin who captured Debussy's shimmering colors. We'd have to say both!

Berlioz' gorgeous melodies and harmonies served to express the glories of la belle nature when Hero (Ms. Galka) and her attendant Ursula (Ms. Kaganskaya) join voices for "Nuit paisible et sereine". This duet from Beatrice et Benedict was balm to the ears and both singers followed the long leisurely line of the phrases most effectively.  It was swoon-worthy.

A return to Italian offered these fine artists an opportunity to dabble in comedy and bel canto. From Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore we heard the wise Adina (Ms. Galka) let the bloviating Dulcamara (Mr. Owen) know that she had enough charm and she didn't need his love potion. Their performances were winning and we got the impression that Mr. Owen is more comfortable in Italian and very effective in comedy. We can just picture him as Don Pasquale!

The final duet was the famous "Dunque io son...tu non m'inganni?" from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. We always wait for that special moment when the spunky Rosina surprises Figaro with the note for "Lindoro" which she has already written. Ms. Martin seemed just right for Rosina and Mr. Lattanzi showed equivalent flexibility.

Although it was the perfect way to end a grand recital, we were left wanting more. An hour of duets is never enough but we'd rather have quality than quantity so there will be no complaining!

Mr. Martin's accompaniment was superb throughout.

(c) meche kroop

FINAL DISPATCH FROM SANTA FE

Kasia Borowiec and Jarrett Ott in a scene from Eugene Onegin
(photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

Our last night in Santa Fe was happily spent watching the apprentices show their stuff.  And what stuff they showed!  We were given to understand that the nine scenes were chosen to highlight the individual talents of the apprentices. We have nothing but plaudits for the singing, but we were not always in tune with the staging and costuming.

In the final scene from Tchaikovsky's masterpiece Eugene Onegin, Kasia Borowiec sang Tatiana with a fine tone and deep emotional involvement as she attempted to resist the blandishments of the eponymous Onegin, with whom she had been so infatuated a few years earlier.

Jarrett Ott took the role of the now lovesick Onegin in both hands and made it his own with his superb baritone and impassioned acting. The scene was directed by Jordan Fein. We could imagine no rationale for Nicole Grebb's dressing of Ms. Borowiec as a 1950's prom queen and robbing her of the 19th c. dignity that the role requires.

Similarly, the third act of Puccini's La Bohème was beautifully sung by Alexandra Razskazoff as the ill-fated Mimi and Jessica Jones as the fickle Musetta. We liked Benjamin Werley as Rodolfo and significant contributions were made by Nicholas Davis' Marcello. 

Kyle Lang directed in the manner of film noir-- with costumes of the 1930's designed by Maria Nieto--a period just as remote from today's audience as the time in which the story took place, but with uglier clothes and hairstyles. To what end we could not fathom. Nothing was added to our understanding of the four bohemians.

Beautiful period costuming was provided by Krista Intravanuovo for Cendrillon in which Alyssa Martin captured all the delicacy of Massenet's deliciously Gallic tunes, with her suitor, the pants role of Le Prince Charmant, portrayed finely by mezzo-soprano Pascale Spinney. The harmony of their voices was stirring and we felt squarely in the fairy tale epoch, thanks to Matthew Ozawa's direction.

Similarly, there was an authentic feel of time and place given to his direction of the scene from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor--a confrontation between Lucia's lover Edgardo (tenor Derrek Stark) and her controlling brother Enrico (baritone Jared Bybee). The voices were well matched and the characterizations apt.  We believed every moment. Caleb Howell designed the wonderful clan costuming.

Where Mr. Ozawa lapsed was in his staging of Tannhäuser which struck us as unsuitable to piano accompaniment.  One could barely identify it as a work of Richard Wagner. The men were dressed in suits (Sharne van Ryneveld) and it felt like a corporate meeting.  That being said, we heard some fine singing, especially from tenor Tyson Miller's Walther and bass Önay Köse's Biterolf. Tenor Cooper Nolan did well in the title role with David Leigh as the Landgrave, Adrian Smith as Wolfram, Andrew Maughan as Schreiber, and Andrew Bogard as Reinmar. 

Kathleen Clawson directed a fine scene from Rossini's Guillaume Tell, another case in which the apposite costuming (Cheyenne Smith) added to the believability. Baritone Andrew  Paulson made a fine Swiss patriot, helped along by Andrew Simpson as Walther, in convincing the wayward Arnold to return to the cause.  This role was superbly sung by tenor Carlos Santelli. Everyone's French sounded just fine.

Ambroise Thomas' Mignon impressed us on all accounts.  Sarah Coit was effective and moving as the unfortunate heroine and sang with a lovely free soprano. Carlos Santelli's fine tenor was heard in the role of Wilhelm Meister with bass-baritone Alan Higgs as the kind minstrel Lothario and baritone Nicholas Davis as the gypsy who sells Mignon to Herr Meister.  The scene was directed by Kyle Lang with the perfect costumes by Tommy Cobau. It made us yearn to see the entire opera!

Bellini's Norma is one of our favorite operas and we were presented with two lovely harmonizing voices--the soprano of Tracy Cantin as the eponymous Druid priestess and the mezzo-soprano of Olivia Vote as her handmaiden Adalgisa. In this moving scene from Act II, Norma tries to persuade Adalgisa to look after her children. Why director Jordan Fein decided to set this gorgeous duet in the room of the children is a mystery and why they were in vaguely 20th c. costumes (Morgan Warner) is beyond me. It added nothing in terms of insight and detracted from the verisimilitude of the scene.  The presence of a pistol was just plain jarring.

There was also a scene from a contemporary opera--Joby Talbot's Everest which premiered last year at The Dallas Opera. In spite of fine singing by tenor Tyson Miller as the expedition leader Rob, with mezzo-soprano Corrie Stallings as his wife and Mr. Bybee as Doug--the scene left us as cold as the climate on Everest and we have no wish to see the rest of the opera. Call us a Philistine if you wish but so many contemporary operas lack memorable vocal lines.  Give us romance, give us passion, give us murder, give us suicide, give us arias!

(c) meche kroop

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

Nicholas Davis, Jarrett Ott, and Daniel Bates (photo by Kate Russell)

We are always filled with anticipation when planning our annual summer trip to Santa Fe. The quality of the operas is always top-notch and the mountainous location of the opera house is magnificent. But the highlight of the trip is always the evenings of Apprentice Scenes on Sunday night. 

Selected from a vast pool of applicants, these 40 young artists never fail to delight with their native talent, honed by the superb training they receive. For two consecutive Sundays evenings, eager audiences are able to enjoy these stars of tomorrow with all their artistry and enthusiasm. We have heard from several of them how greatly they prize this performance opportunity.

Indeed, the two couples we introduced to opera this season have become fans. Did we mention that the cost is excessively modest?  It's a fine way for newbies to see excerpts from several operas and learn about their preferences.

Although a piano is substituted for the orchestra, production values are flawless; costuming is always appropriate, as are the simple sets. Direction is superb.

Today we will tell you about evening #1, with tales of evening #2 to follow. The program got off to a delightful start with scenes from the first act of Mozart's Cosí fan tutte. If ever an opera was more perfectly written for young performers, we could not name it. Two soldiers, Ferrando (played by the sweet-voiced tenor Daniel Bates) and Guglielmo (portrayed by the rising star baritone Jarrett Ott) boast about the fidelity of their sweethearts Fiordiligi (bright soprano Rebecca Krynski) and Dorabella (mezzo-soprano Alyssa Martin, who has a nice counterbalancing weight to her instrument).

An older man, a bartender in Director Kathleen Clawson's modern dress interpretation, scoffs at them and designs a bet to prove that all women stray. In this role, Nicholas Davis employed his fine baritone voice and comedic skills to good advantage. The horseplay among the three men was hilarious. The two women did a great job of depicting vain silly girls and their duet was divine.

A scene from Händel's Serse followed, a scene that left no comedic stone unturned, thanks to Louisa Muller's fine direction.  Mezzo-soprano Megan Marino in a giggle-worthy moustache portrayed a Russian general.  (We know it was Russia because there was a large upraised communist fist towering over the set). Her Serse was an irredeemable skirt chaser; her over-the-top portrayal provided ample opportunity for coloratura, in which her attack and execution garnered wild applause.

As rejecting Romilda, the unwilling recipient of his attention, soprano Adelaide Boedecker gave a stylish performance. We enjoyed the duet between Elviro (bass Kevin Thompson) and Amastre (mezzo Shabnam Kalbasi).

On a more serious note was the famous duet from Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles in which Nadir and Zurga express their rivalry. Tenor John Myers gave a well-modulated performance that harmonized beautifully with baritone Jorell Williams, from whom we have never heard a performance less than first-rate. The French diction was truly excellent. A real audience-pleaser that "Au fond du temple saint"! Never fails--two gorgeous male voices and the audience swoons.  As we did. 

From our favorite Wagnerian opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, we heard the glorious closing quintet from Act III, beautifully directed by Mary Birnbaum. This is the scene in which Eva (the fine soprano Alexandra Raszkazoff) comes to Hans Sachs (Adrian Smith with his burly bass-baritone) to get her shoe fixed.  It is the scene in which Sachs becomes aware of the very evident chemistry between Eva and Walther (tenor Benjamin Werley). And shoemaker apprentice David (tenor Derrek Stark) gets promoted to journeyman. Mezzo Olivia Vote portrayed his sweetheart Magdalena. Every vocal and dramatic moment was made crystal clear. German diction was great.

We never pass up a chance to hear Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann. How well we remember the 2010 production in Santa Fe!  Ms. Birnbaum staged the Venice scene with creativity. Mezzos Briana Hunter as the courtesan Giulietta and Anne Marie Stanley as Nicklausse sang a most sensuous duet. Bass Calvin Griffin as Dappertutto sang "Scintille diamant" as well as we have ever heard it--with a great deal of menace. Tenor Christopher Trapani made a fine Hoffman with tenor Tyson Miller and Mr. Williams as Pittichinaccio and Schlemil respectively. More fine French was heard.

Verdi's Otello will never be replaced by Rossini's but as an enormous fan of bel canto, we were very very happy to hear our young artists demonstrate fine flexibility in the fioritura. Tenor Jack Swanson sang Rodrigo, tenor Aaron Short sang Otello, and soprano Alyssa Martin sang Desdemona. The story unfolds rather differently but Ms. Clawson's direction made things clear.

The only scene on the program which didn't thrill us was from Moore's Enemies: A Love Story. Three women sang monologues--not very interesting dramatically or vocally. Sadly the diction was so flawed we failed to determine what they were singing about. English is notoriously difficult to sing in a manner that is comprehensible but the final piece on the program proved that it can be done.

It was the scene of the "Mechanicals" from Act III of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This early 20th c. work is pure delight and the large cast threw themselves into the fun with great gusto. We can never figure out who's who so we will just list all those wildly costumed craftsmen as a group. They were all hilarious and sang well!  Tyson Miller, Galeano Salas, Michael Adams, Nicholas Brownlee, Calvin Griffin, and Peter Tomaszewski. We wish we had a video of their antics.

As the bored and supercilious royal audience, we heard bass Tyler Putnam as Theseus with a (feminine) Ms. Marino as his Hippolyta, Ms. Krynski as Helena, Mr. Ott as Demetrius, Mr. Stark as Lysander and Ms. Hunter as Hermia. Ms. Muller's direction was outstanding and the evening ended on a joyous note with the audience walking out grinning into the crisp night air.

(c) meche kroop