MENOTTI'S RELEVANCE

Cast and Production Team for Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul presented by Bronx Opera

Bronx Opera has been delighting New York audiences for over 50 years. Distance has prevented us from reviewing their productions with any great regularity.  Add to that the fact that they perform everything in English, a language which we do not enjoy hearing sung. We loathe translations and cannot name many operas composed in English for which we can drum up any enthusiasm.

However, we have enjoyed Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium (with Caroline Nye in the starring role) and decided to take a chance on The Consul, and we are happy we did so. This is a very sad opera, and the saddest part of all is that the totalitarian governments and the consequent refugee situations still exist seven decades after Menotti selected this topic and wrote his own libretto. If only art could promote political change!

It doesn't matter which decade was chosen. Here, Director Rod Gomez chose to set the work in the 1980's.  It could have been today. The direction was excellent and the piece worked well as theater. Meganne George dressed the cast in drab attire and created a bare set out of scaffolding towers which held a door, a window, and....an oven.  If you see a gun in Act I, you are waiting for someone to get shot. When you see an oven...well, we are not going to tell you about baking bread!

The scenes alternate between the poor apartment of the Sorel's in a nameless totalitarian country, and a consulate which will remind audience members of any government agency they have visited in which there are endless forms to be filled out and passive-aggressive people in charge.

Mrs. Sorel's husband is involved in some kind of anti-government resistance and is on the run from the secret police who hound poor Mrs. Sorel into a state of misery. In this role we have the splendid soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley whose fine work we have reviewed on many occasions. We mostly recall her dignified and elegant creation of the Countess Almaviva at the Santa Fe Opera, and some lovely Russian singing at the George London Competition.

Last night will, we hope, be a breakout performance for her. She created a highly sympathetic character with whom it was easy to identify and the enthusiastic applause she received at the end let us know that others shared our opinion. Menotti, like most 20th c. composers, does not give the singers much to work with in terms of melody, and English can never show off the voice the way Italian does; still we were happy with what we heard.

As her mother-in-law, mezzo-soprano Caroline Tye was similarly affecting, especially when singing to the baby in the cradle. Ms. Tye is another artist we have reviewed and enjoyed upon many occasions. We lost count of how many performances she graced at Utopia Opera but our associations ran to another Menotti opera produced by New Camerata Opera in which she took the starring role in the aforementioned The Medium--a performance which encouraged us to attend last night.

Cara Search, who is new to us, had the role of the consul's secretary, the one demanding increasing numbers of forms to be filled out. Chuckles in the audience told us how many of us have had similar experiences with government bureaucracies. It was another fine performance.

Jeremy Moore did well as Mr. Sorel, appearing in the first act and again at the end. We recall his fine performance as Eugene Onegin for Utopia Opera. Joseph Gansert made a scary secret police agent.

Every tragedy needs some comic relief which was provided by Daniel Foltz-Morrison in the role of the magician/hypnotist Nika Magadoff who entertained the group of supplicants in the consul's office.  His appearance in the final scene was of a different nature but dramatically valid.

Baritone Conrad Schmechel portrayed John Sorel's friend Assan. We have only seen him previously in roles that allowed him to express his personality--we believe it was Papageno one time and El Dancairo another time.

The group waiting for visas comprised Ben Hoyer as Mr. Kofner, Leslie Swanson as a "foreign woman", Francesca Federico as Anna Gomez, and Amy Maude Helfer as Vera Boronel.

The same cast will perform next Saturday night and we recommend them highly. We took a look at the cast for the Sunday matinee performances and recognize some major talents there as well.  In either case you won't be disappointed.

Under the baton of Eric Kramer, the Bronx Opera Orchestra performed Menotti's music as finely as one would wish. We particularly enjoyed the wind section and paid particular attention to the oboe line, so beautifully played by Jacob Slattery. In Act II, he played the English Horn, the sound of which was (LOL) music to our ears. We sat close to the percussionist, Barbara Allen, who was on an elevated platform, and enjoyed that equally.

It seemed to us that Menotti's music was most lyrical during the interludes when no one was singing. We found that strange. We also found it peculiar that the tragic finale was accompanied by grandly heroic music. Was that meant to be ironic? If you, dear reader, can contribute something to our understanding of 20th c. music, please comment below.

(c) meche kroop

MANHATTAN OPERA STUDIO

Manhattan Opera Studio's production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte

Not all summer training programs take place in Europe.  Some are right here in New York City. Manhattan Opera Studio attracted a lot of students from out-of-town for their Summer Festival. Students applied by audition and those accepted received month-long coaching and master classes, with an opportunity to appear in a fully staged role with orchestra.

A few days ago we reviewed their Hänsel und Gretel and last night we returned to the National Opera Center to hear Die Zauberflöte,  Mozart's delightful singspiel. The work premiered in 1791 and is replete with references to Freemasonry, which was practiced by both Mozart and his librettist Emanuel Schikaneder, who sang the role of Papageno. Sarastro represents the values of The Enlightenment--reason and wisdom. His nemesis, the Queen of the Night, represents emotionalism and hysteria.  Do we see the sexism here?

Mozart composed the delightful music with concern for the varied vocal abilities of his cast. Allowances were made for those less experienced or less gifted, whilst great challenges were presented to the famous singers who were cast as the Queen and Sarastro. There was also some variability in the artistry of the cast we heard last night.

There were no allowances made for the orchestra and Maestro Keith Chambers led a spirited performance from the reduced orchestra which played Bryan Higgins' fine reduction of the score. We always listen for the glockenspiel, so well played here by Lucas Barkley.

The opera was performed in German and everyone in the cast deserves props for their linguistic skills as well as their singing. Certain singers made a big impression. Conrad Schmechel is a stage animal and created a marvelous version of Papageno, the opera's representation of the "common man", happy with food and wine and a wife. Fortunately he was awarded the delightful Papagena of Laura Schachner who had little stage time but has a sit-up-and-take-notice style about her. Mr. Schmechel was reviewed last summer in Opera Breve's Carmen.

Taylor Surratt made a fine Tamino with lyrical line and a princely bearing, representing the man who is amenable to reason, changing his mind when confronted with new information. His "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" was especially fine. As his beloved Pamina, Kathleen Norchi sang with sincerity and a lovely line in "Ach, ich fühl's".

The incredibly difficult role of the Queen of the Night was well performed by Xi Lyu. Her revenge aria "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" was even better than her "O zittre nicht mein lieber Sohn". Her fiery delivery was just right.

Christian Ohlenschlaeger's Sarastro would have benefitted from some more forceful acting. We have always found Sarastro to be a pompous and not very likeable character, but he must be firm in gesture and voice.

Eamon Pereyra, whom we havea heard before, handled the vocal demands of Monostatos perfectly well but is just too sweet looking to convince us of the character's evil nature.

The Three Ladies (Ashlee Woodgate, Kailee Miranda Mhoon, and Olivia Ottinger) harmonized beautifully. We wish that Stage Director Lisa Nava had gotten them to relate to one another more. As a matter of fact, there were several instances in which other characters sang directly to the audience instead of to each other. This should be easy to correct and would make the performance work much better.

We always love the Three Spirits; the three lovely young women who sang them (Brittany Stetson, Mary McKinnis, and Maya Davis) managed to sound like three boy sopranos which made them inordinately appealing.

Although sung in German, the spoken dialogue was in English; everyone spoke clearly so not a word was lost. The chorus also did very well. Duets and ensembles were all well balanced.

There were no sets and no props which allowed the audience members to use their imagination. We borrowed bits and pieces from our memory including a particularly vivid memory of a production seen years ago in Bregenz, Austria, in which the action took place on a large floating stage in the middle of Lake Constance and the serpent came up out of the lake!

We liked the lighting which dimmed for the major arias, allowing the singer to perform in a spotlight. We also liked the costumes which were basic but effective.

The orchestra played on one side of the room with the audience seated on the other side. The effect was somewhat less than stereophonic but is one of those compromises made on Planet Opera where we desperately need a small opera house with an orchestra pit.

There will be another performance at The National Opera Center Sunday at 6:30 and Flute lovers who hope to attend will be well advised to reserve tickets. Last night was standing room only. Sitters and standees were equally enthusiastic in their standing ovation for the singers.

(c) meche kroop

DON JOSE ON THE COUCH

John Kim, Conrad Schmechel, Bonnie Frauenthal, Michael Celentano, Melissa Serluco, Paul Khoury, Perri Sussman, and Julia Gmeiner

Although we generally take a dim view of updating the classics, what Lenora Eve accomplished with Bizet's Carmen was nothing short of miraculous. As President, Founder, and Artistic Director of Opera Breve, Ms. Eve devised an original concept that shed new light on the opera. She gave herself the role of psychoanalyst Dr. Eve Stone, delivering a paper on "Love, Obsession, and Addiction", illustrating the pathology of one Don Jose whom she had interviewed as he was on death row, awaiting execution for the murder of Carmen.

She did an impressive job of presenting the scenes of the opera onstage as illustrations of the points she made from her offstage podium. This concept appealed enormously to our psychoanalytic self and sounded exactly like papers we have heard at psychoanalytic conferences. The amazing thing was that her theorizing was astute and accurate.

One point that we had never considered is that Don Jose saw himself as a victim and was unable to see his role in the tragedy.  Carmen was portrayed as an insecure woman, fearful of abandonment, using her wiles to bring men close to her and then dumping them before they could abandon her. We found this interpretation thought provoking.

Moreover, the eight performers cast in the opera seemed to intuit Ms. Eve's analysis or were very well directed by her. The entire cast sang well and their French, if not always perfect, was perfectly understandable. The diction and acting were so on point that titles were unnecessary.

As the eponymous Carmen, mezzo-soprano Melissa Serluco turned in her customary fine performance. As befitting Ms. Eve's concept, there was nothing sinister about her seductions and one could feel considerable empathy for the character. Both the Habanera and the Seguidilla were performed with style and substance. Having enjoyed her performances with Utopia Opera and Amore Opera, we were unsurprised by the rich texture of her voice and fine phrasing.

We felt the same appreciation for soprano Bonnie Frauenthal's Micaela, even though her character was presented in the traditional fashion--shy, innocent, vulnerable, but calling upon faith to give her courage. Ms. Frauenthal has a lovely bright instrument and used it well in the service of the music and the character. Her "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante" was incredibly moving. We have heard and enjoyed Ms. Frauenthal's performances with Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble and Utopia Opera.

Both of these young artists seem to be in demand by New York's most impressive boutique companies, as is the terrific tenor Michael Celentano, whose performances we have also enjoyed in lots of major tenor roles. As Don Jose, he sang and acted with distinction, seeming to convey the very points made by "Dr. Stone" at the podium. We loved the way he sang "La fleur que tu m'avais jetee" and the abject manner in which he begged Carmen to return to him.

His duets with Carmen and with Micaela were marked by depth of feeling and lovely vocal balance.

Soprano Julia Gmeiner as Frasquita and mezzo-soprano Perri Sussman as Mercedes added a lot of personality to their roles as friends of Carmen who flirted wildly with Escamillo (Paul Khoury, who managed to sing while twirling his cape and engaging in a knife fight with Don Jose) and accepted money for their sexual favors at Lillas Pastia's tavern cum brothel.

Tenor John Kim made a fine El Remendado and also doubled in a very funny turn as a shy reluctant client at the brothel.  His facial and bodily expressions were priceless. Baritone Conrad Schmechel was a fine addition as El Dancairo.

We always look forward to the humorous scene of the smugglers planning their next adventure. Here, it was particularly well done.

Replacing Bizet's stunning orchestration with a piano reduction is always hit or miss.  In this case, it was clearly a hit.  Pianist Matthew Lobaugh has the normal set of ten fingers but we heard the sound of scores of instruments.

Combat Director Joseph Melendez was so effective that we were holding our breath in anxiety for the artists.  Not to worry.  No one was at risk; it just looked that way.

Kristine Koury's costumes were simple for the most part and contemporary in style. Don Jose wore army fatigues; Escamillo had a fine matador costume with a cape of gold, not red. We like the dresses worn by Frasquita and Mercedes which had a definite flamenco flair. Micaela was dressed like a country girl; it was perfect.

We were delighted to see an old warhorse in a fresh light. If only other directors were similarly original with their concepts and creative in their executions! Unfortunately, most of them seem to come from a place of directorial arrogance and self aggrandizement and have nothing original to say.

The best proof of this production's success was that our companion for the evening had never seen an opera before and has declared himself as an ardent fan, eager for more experiences. If a small and adventuresome company can win converts like that, we must consider them a roaring success!

(c) meche kroop