CARDONA DOES DON CARLO

Michael Fennelly, Ricardo Tamura, Julia Rolwing, Daniel Cardona, Ann McMahon Quintero, Daniel Lickteig, Matthew Curran and Jeremy Galyon

When Daniel Cardona, Founder and Artistic Director of the Martha Cardona Theater, undertakes to present one of his evenings of opera, you can rest assured that the talent onstage will be unparalleled.  Last night at Christ and St. Stephens Church he presented Verdi's longest opera--but the evening flew by.  Truth to tell, he presented excerpts from the opera in concert version; all the major highlights were there--arresting arias, divine duets, terrific trios, and a quality quartet.

We don't know how Mr. Cardona managed to assemble such a perfect cast but it was a dazzling assemblage of talent.  As the tragic eponymous hero, we heard tenor Ricardo Tamura, often heard at The Metropolitan Opera.  Hint:  he is singing the role at The Met this Spring.  Don't say we didn't alert you.

As the woman he loves, the French Princess Elisabetta, we heard the fine soprano Julia Rolwing.  As his best friend Rodrigo, baritone Daniel Lickteig exhibited a fine tone and a sympathetic character.  The marvelous mezzo Ann McMahon Quintero took on the role of The Princess Eboli and somehow managed to evoke sympathy for this jealous vengeful character.

Even King Fillipo II, a thoroughly detestable character who has his own son murdered, as sung by bass Matthew Curran, had a moment of sympathy when he sang the famous aria "Ella giammai m'amo!"; an old man suffers when he realizes his wife, stolen from his son, never loved him.

The only character for which one can feel no sympathy whatsoever is The Grand Inquisitor.  Bass Jeremy Galyon has a particularly penetrating sound that was just right for the man that has even the King quaking in his boots!

So aptly cast were these singers and so perfectly sung were their roles that we were on the edge of our seat (a pew, actually).  Large voices all--the kind you rarely get to hear nowadays.

In the role of the page Tebaldo, the beautiful young soprano Madison Marie McIntosh revealed a gorgeous light tone that matched well with that of Ms. Quintero in a highly decorated vocal line.  About to graduate from Mannes, Ms. McIntosh has also made good use of her training with the good folks at Classic Lyric Arts.

The opera itself is one of our favorites.  Happily, the choice was to sing it in Italian in the Modena version, rather than the original French version.  Just as happily, the Fontainebleu scene was included; it shows how Don Carlo and Elisabetta fall in love and thereby justifies all the grief and jealousy and conflict which result.

The opera is about an impossible love; what's a man to do when his father decides to marry his intended bride for political reasons?  The opera is about loyalty; Rodrigo sacrifices his life so that Carlo can fulfill his political destiny.  The opera is about betrayal; Princess Eboli rats out her mistress Queen Elisabetta out of jealousy and envy. The opera is about power; King Phillip II (Fillipo II) has enough power to subjugate the poor Flemish, enough to get the girl, and enough to dispatch his son, but not enough to trump The Grand Inquisitor whose threats are anything but empty. It asks the question "How can love survive in an atmosphere of terror and suspicion?"

Some of our favorite scenes include the one in which Princess Eboli realizes that Don Carlo loves Elisabetta and not her.  What wrath was exhibited by Ms. Quintero! Another favorite was Filippo's aforementioned aria in which Mr. Curran succeeded in evoking our sympathy for this pathetic ruler. Ms. Quintero's "O don fatale" brought down the house.  Let us not forget the scene in which Rodrigo comes to Carlo's prison, accompanied by repetitive alternations between half-tones in the piano,  and expresses his loyalty and wish to die for his friend-- "Io morrò".  Mr. Tamura and Mr. Lickteig were incredibly effective in this duet.  Finally, Ms. Rolwing's handling of the wide jumps in "Tu che le vanità" were impressive.

The score was played on the piano by the always amazing Michael Fennelly.  Although this is one of the few remaining productions that The Met has yet to trash and one which we love, we enjoyed the piano reduction and the opportunity to hear some sensational voices.  

© meche kroop

CARDONA'S PAGLIACCI

Daniel Cardona and cast of I Pagliacci at SOPAC

It was an out-of-state journey but it was worth it to hear one of our favorite realismo operas with a fine cast of worthwhile singers.  As Founder of the Martha Cardona Theater, Daniel Cardona has a keen ear for good voices and tonight proved himself to be a fine director as well, in a semi-staged production of Ruggero Leoncavallo's beloved 1892 opera which deals with the theme of life imitating art.

The composer claimed that his libretto was based upon the murder of one of his family's servants when he was a child, but a French playwright believed he stole the story and sued him for plagiarism. We may never learn the truth.

The action takes place in Calabria a few decades earlier.   Nedda, sung by the exciting soprano Kristin Sampson, is married to Canio, the head of a troupe of traveling actors (sung with ringing tone by Mexican-Italian tenor Mauricio Trejo).  The backstory is that he found her starving in the streets and gave her a profession and matrimonial legitimacy.

He is a good-hearted man but jealous and possessive.  When he learns from another member of his troupe, the crippled and embittered Tonio (performed with power by baritone Daniel Lickteig) that Nedda has been seen embracing one of the men of the town--Silvio (sung by the romantic lyric baritone Kevin Wetzel), his rage gets the better of him and intrudes upon that night's performance.

The performance, so popular in Southern Italy in that period, is one of commedia del'arte and the stock characters include Columbina, the flirtatious wife--enacted by Nedda; Pagliaccio, the cuckolded husband--enacted by Canio; Arlecchino the lover--enacted by Beppe (interesting young tenor Chaz'men Williams-Ali); and the Servant Taddeo--enacted by Tonio.

Without scenery and with minimal playing area, the artists made the story clear and believable.  It was a directorial masterstroke to have Silvio sitting in the offstage audience.  When he observes (SPOILER ALERT) Canio losing control and stabbing Nedda he rushes onstage and suffers the same fate.  We in the audience feel more involved than usual since we were also subjected to Nedda selling us tickets for the "performance".

Highlights of the performance include Mr. Lickteig's prologue, Canio's heartbreaking "Vesti la giubba", Nedda's aria about freedom "Stridono lassu" and the affecting love duet between Nedda and Silvio as he persuades her to elope with him after the performance. The Italian was so clearly sung and the acting so effective that the occasional problems with the projected titles mattered little.

The production at the South Orange Performing Arts Center was a collaboration between the Martha Cardona Theater, The Mid Atlantic Opera Orchestra, conducted by Jason C. Tramm, and the Seton Hall University Chorus which sang the vesper chorus quite beautifully.

For more information on the upcoming Tosca, see their website.
www.themarthacardonatheater.com.  We are familiar with the cast and you won't be disappointed.

(c) meche kroop