BATTLE OF THE SEXES, BATTLE OF THE FAITHS

Song Hee Lee, Eric van Heyningen, Jessica Niles, Karin Osbeck, Hyoyoung Kim, and Maggie Renée Valdman

By a strange coincidence, just four days ago, we reviewed a presentation of Händel's earliest experiments in writing for the voice. How rapidly he honed his skills! No sooner had the tuneful overture to Rinaldo ended last night at Alice Tully Hall, than we became aware of how psychologically astute was his writing for the voice!

By the time he was in his mid-twenties, Händel was much in demand for the London stage and gave them Rinaldo, the first Italian opera created for that city. The reception was warm, just as the reception was last night when post-graduate students at Juilliard performed it alongside Juilliard 415.

Let it be said right away that the minimally staged production was magnificently sung and acted and that Juilliard's period instrument ensemble responded in a lively fashion to Maestro Nicholas McGegan's enthusiastic conducting--all hands, no baton--from the harpsichord.

There was a second harpsichord, played in dazzling fashion by Jacob Dassa. His extended solo absolutely changed our mind about the harpsichord, an instrument that we generally ignore but will no longer. It was one of the high points of the evening, occurring during Armida's Act II vengeance aria and, as cleverly directed by Ophelie Wolf, had the evil sorceress (singular soprano Jessica Niles) bursting with impatience as Mr. Dassa piled cadenza upon cadenza. She even lit up a cigarette (mock) which she shared with the musicians of Juilliard 415 in an hilarious show of boredom.

Special notice must be given to the three musicians playing recorder and oboe--Kelsey Burnham, Matthew Hudgens and Emily Ostrom. The soprano recorder reproduced bird calls to accompany Almirena as she languished in the sorceress' garden lamenting her lost love in "Lascia ch'io pianga", so effectively rendered by soprano Hyoyoung Kim with a purity of tone which soared up into the highest register.

Based upon Torquato Tasso's epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata (as so many operas were) Giacomo Rossi's libretto gave us a fictional account of the First Crusade, an event to which is attributed much contemporary Muslim hostility toward Christianity. Christian knight Rinaldo loves Almirena, daughter of his general Goffredo and will be permitted to wed her once the Saracens have been conquered.

Argante, leader of the Saracens, needs help from his lover, the sorceress Armida. She captures Almirena and spirits her away. Then she lures Rinaldo to her lair, using Almirena as bait. She disguises herself as Almirena and fools Rinaldo briefly. But Argante also falls in love with Almirena who just wants her freedom.

It takes a lot of magical intervention to straighten things out and we can only imagine what kind of stagecraft was devised for the London production. As we understand, staging was quite inventive in early 18th c. London!

Each and every role was sung in fine Baroque style and was accompanied by effective acting. All the world loves a bad girl and Miss Niles' Armida was the baddest of the bad, using every fiber of her being to illustrate what Händel's music is telling us. We have reviewed Ms. Niles on a number of prior occasions but this character unleashed something highly exciting to which the audience responded with volleys of applause. The illusion of sorcery was magnified by her costume and makeup.

Exactly the opposite in appearance and demeanor was the innocent Almirena portrayed by the superb soprano Hyoyoung Kim who was new to us. Dressed in a sweet white dress, she was the image of innocence but used her soprano strength to rebuff the importuning of Argante. In her featured aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" her trills matched the warbling birds given voice by the recorder. The violins wept along with her.

The role of Argante, usually given to a bass, was portrayed effectively by baritone Erik van Heyningen who negotiated well the lower end of the register and was successful at lightening his voice for the romantic scenes whilst letting loose with more powerful vocalism when he was in warrior mode.

Mezzo-soprano Maggie Renée Valdman made a strong Goffredo, evincing a richly textured sound and masculine posture. Phrasing and breath control, as well as dynamics, made for a fine performance.

Mezzo-soprano Karin Osbeck invested the role of Rinaldo with sympathy and performed a lovely duet with Almirena as well as the mournful aria "Cara sposa" when she is spirited away.

We were delighted to see undergraduate Song Hee Lee in a small role as the woman who lures Rinaldo away. We noticed her talent a year ago in a freshman recital and noted her crystalline soprano which was put to good use last night. She created a seductive character that the audience enjoyed.

Act III relied heavily on the music since much of the staged action had to be eliminated. But we certainly did enjoy the reconciliation duet between Armida and Argante. The ending of the opera must have been gratifying for 18th c. audiences because Jerusalem gets "liberated" and the Saracens give up their evil ways and convert to Christianity. Wouldn't it be grand if the contemporary problems in Jerusalem could be so easily resolved!

© meche kroop

50 SHADES OF GRIEF

Manami Mizumoto, Chloe Kim, Jacob Dassa, Edward Li, Samuel Siegel, Jessica Niles, and Joshua Stauffer

We recall the first time we heard a countertenor. It was at Manhattan School of Music and the singer was Anthony Ross Costanzo, who has gone on to fame and fortune. More recently we have been dazzled by Jakob Jozef Orlinski and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. The fach is not to everyone's taste but it is very pleasing to our ear.

Last night at Juilliard we heard Samuel Siegel in recital and the first thing we noticed about his splendid technique is that there was an evenness throughout the range, evidence of a stable core and good breath control. Last week we reviewed a well-known countertenor who sounded like two different singers at either end of the vocal register. That was not pleasing.

Although sacred music is not nearly as interesting to us as secular music, we thought Mr. Siegel brought beautiful tone and phrasing to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's 18th c. Stabat Mater. Mr. Siegel wisely chose some excellent artists to accompany him on his journey into Maria's sorrow.

Soprano Jessica Niles matched his artistry all the way and during their duets we were fascinated by the play of harmonics every time the voices essayed a discordant minor second.

Members of Juilliard 415 contributed the accompaniment with Jacob Dassa playing the beautiful harpsichord and Joshua Stauffer plucking the strings of that most impressive instrument, the theorbo. Violins were bowed by Chloe Kim and Manami Mizumoto, the viola by Edward Li, and the cello by Cullen O'Neil. John Stajduhar manned the Double Bass.

The work itself comprises a succession of verses about Mary, mother of Jesus, grieving at the cross. The poet wants to share her grief. There is not much variety in the sentiment and it is impressive how the young Pergolesi managed to inject a great deal of variety into the music. Surprisingly, a couple of the verses were written in a major key, providing some relief from the misery and suffering.

There is less decoration in the vocal line than in music of the Baroque but we did admire the execution of the few turns we heard, and the occasional florid vocal line in the melismatic passages of "Fac, ut ardeat cor meum". 

There was a fair amount of excitement in the scale passages of "Inflammatus et accensus", but for the most part the mood was one of devotion and both singers invested the performance with a deeply felt but subdued sincerity.

We wondered what the adventuresome Pergolesi might have achieved had he not perished from tuberculosis at the young age of 26. His work looks forward to the Classicism of the future.

© meche kroop

CLARA AND ROBERT

Brian Zeger, Keshav Moodliar, Chance Jonas-O'Toole, Libby Sokolowski, Chris Reynolds, Lauren Norvelle, Jessica Niles, Kyle Miller, and Erin Wagner

Last night at Alice Tully Hall, Juilliard presented one of their Songfests, an occasion we never miss. The program, curated by world renowned collaborative pianist Brian Zeger, who just so happens to be the Artistic Director of the Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard, was one of enormous value for several reasons.

Primarily, we were impressed by the concept of presenting the lives of Clara and Robert Schumann in a theatrically valid way, involving dramatic readings of their letters interspersed with songs that were related to that particular period in their romance. This shed new light on the songs and affected us in a new way.

Clara's letters were brought to vivid life by recent Juilliard graduate Lauren Norvelle who was most remarkable in expressing the young Clara's childhood infatuation with Robert. She was but a pre-teen prodigy when Robert fell deeply in love with her. It was a long courtship since Clara's father was vehemently opposed to the match, even though Robert had been his student; the two were obliged to wait 9 years for Clara's 21st birthday to wed.

Robert's letters were read by Keshav Moodliar, also a Juilliard drama student who keenly expressed Robert's youthful extravagant expressions of love.

Previously known for his piano compositions, 1840 brought forth a torrent of lieder, filled with joy. Apparently, years of separation had made his heart fonder and fonder; the consummation was therefore amplified by the power of ten. Anyone who has yearned for an impossible love will recognize this phenomenon.

The opening duet of the program "Er und Sie" was performed by soprano Jessica Niles and tenor Chance Jonas-O'Toole; the subtle dynamics, the sweet voices, and the blended harmonies successfully expressed the joys of mutual love. The boughs of "Der Nussbaum" inclined their delicate heads to kiss in sincere symbolism, tenderly sung by soprano Libby Sokolowski. 

Symbolism was not necessary in "Intermezzo, Op. 39, No. 2" which speaks openly of the singing of the heart. Baritone Kyle Miller gave it a lovely interpretation.

Mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner expressed a woman's youthful infatuation in
"Seit ich ihn gesehen" from Robert's song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben and later she sang of the joys of sharing pregnancy with "Süsser Freund" from the same cycle. Indeed, the Schumann's would have eight children!

"Widmung", so passionately sung by Mr. Miller, was composed as a wedding gift for Clara and Mr. Miller allowed the song to grow in intensity and passion.

Of course, as we all know, there is no "happily ever after" in real life and Robert's early enthusiasm became increasingly manic and his low periods became increasingly black. Unfortunately, in the early 19th c. there was no effective treatment for mental illness and poor Clara was left to cope with a large family, all the while championing Robert's music, performing at the piano, and composing.

The first time we heard her "Liebst du um Schönheit" we thought of it as having been surpassed by Mahler's setting. However, the more we hear it the higher it grows in our estimation and Ms. Niles gave it a lovely performance.  She was similarly effective in Clara's "Er ist gekommen" which seemed filled with anxiety. We heard a sense of loss in Clara's "Ich stand in dunklen Träumen", finely performed by soprano Libby Sokolowski.

Schumann's compositions toward the end of his life are dark. Listening to Mr. Miller's performance of "Der Spielmann" we can take the Hans Christian Andersen text (translated by Adelbert von Chamisso) as more than usually meaningful. "It's hideous for a man to die in this way, When his heart's still young and striving for joy" and "Let none of us go mad: I too am just a poor musician". We can only wonder what kind of visions and hallucinations troubled the unfortunate musical genius. Similarly, we can only wonder what his artistic output might have been if treatment had been available.

We were sitting close enough to the stage to feel as if we were participating in a salon at the Schumann's home. Singers and actors were all onstage together; it was a highly effective way of presenting the music. Mr. Zeger shared the accompanying duties with the super-talented Chris Reynolds. It was an altogether worthwhile evening that fulfilled both as theater and concert.

© meche kroop

CITY LYRIC OPERA SEASON OPENER

Jessica Niles, Eliza Bonet, Jessica Fishenfeld, Cory Battey, Scott Bradley Joiner, and Trevor Martin

In their fourth season, City Lyric Opera has everything going for itself. Helmed by two lovely ladies (incidentally, both possessors of lovely voices), this young company has garnered a highly invested young audience by virtue of their conviction and dedication to their mission. If you, dear reader, recall their origin as A.R.E. Opera, you will probably also recall what the initials stood for--opera that is Accessible, Relatable, and Enjoyable. Trust us when we tell you that these goals are still on the table, although there is a lot more to consider.

The idea of creating an artistic community in New York City is not a new one but it is rather new to the field of opera. Keeping ticket prices affordable--a price point of about $15-20 is eminently affordable--is also not new; but creating works of quality at that price point is a challenge they have met. Superb singers are attracted to the company and are treated as the artists they are, with generous fees paid.

This quality, combined with adventuresome programming relevant to our times, is responsible for their meteoric rise. Productions of operas are augmented by stimulating salon evenings and an annual WorkshOpera, one of which we attended last year; it was an eye-opening experience to learn about the creation of an opera!

We are not sure how the founders, Kathleen Spencer and Megan Gillis, have managed to accomplish this so rapidly but we suspect it has much to do with commitment, conviction, dedication, and hard work.

Last night the season opener was a gala event held at Steinway Hall involving some glorious singing, free-flowing champagne, and delicious passed hors d'oeuvres. These gals sure know how to throw a party! This is a family worth joining!

The major joy of our work is watching the developing careers of young artists. Take for example the sublime soprano Jessica Niles whom we first heard at a liederabend at Juilliard a couple years ago, singing Russian songs which she had translated herself. We were impressed and subsequently caught her performances in Juilliard's opera performances --Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Anna in Nikolai's Merry Wives of Windsor--perfect ingenue roles. 

Last night she performed Adina's aria "Prendi, per me sei libero" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'Amore, showing a deep understanding of the character and exhibiting a nice clean fioritura in the cabaletta. Later, she sang Emily's aria from Ned Rorem's Our Town. Her dramatic interpretation was moving; however we'd be lying if we said we liked the music. We didn't think Thornton Wilder would have wanted his story to be set to music, especially music without a memorable vocal line. Just sayin'!

We were delighted by the performances of mezzo-soprano Eliza Bonet whom we haven't seen since she portrayed a dominatrix (!) in the clever Three Ways by Robert Paterson (libretto by David Cote), a couple years ago. It really takes some Italian singing to appreciate the quality of a singer's voice and last night her choice of "Cruda sorte" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri was just right to show off the terrific texture of her instrument and the spunkiness of her personality.

She delved deeper into her capacity for humor in Ben Moore's "Sexy Lady", written for Susan Graham--just one more funny song about the mezzo's dilemma. In this case, the words were more important than the music.

The meteoric rise of soprano Jessica Fishenfeld is another story that delights us. We first heard her as the Sandman in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel at Manhattan School of Music about six years ago. Then we saw her with Gramercy Opera in something called Big Jim and the Small-time Investors, a cute story with forgettable music. What we remember best was her duet with tenor Scott Bradley Joiner who joined her last night for the highly convincing love duet "Tornami a dir" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Hmmmm. Interesting. We wondered if they met during the production of Big Jim.

Absolutely dazzling was Ms. Fishenfeld's portrayal of Cunegonde from Bernstein's Candide, which opened the program last night. In "Glitter and be Gay" the word "revel" was never given such dramatic realization and the contrast between that and the crocodile tears of the slow section was impressive. Adding to the fun was a huge garment which Ms. Fishenfeld used well in the phrase "spread my wings".

She also performed a duet with baritone Trevor Martin (the only singer last night who was new to us)--"Make Believe" from the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Showboat, which is sounding more and more like opera.

(We might add that Ms. Fishenfeld appeared with New York City Opera the previous night at their 75th Anniversary Concert in Bryant Park. That was understandably amplified so we didn't appreciate the artist's development until the City Lyric Opera event last night.)

Mr. Martin made a convincing Escamillo in the "Toreador Song" from Bizet's Carmen, as well as a fine romantic partner in the Showboat number. He also sang "Joey, Joey" from Frank Loesser's Most Happy Fella, showing us again how operatic a Broadway musical can be when sung unamplified by an operatically trained voice. It was at this point in the program that we realized just how excellent was the accompanist Cory Battey. When the wind whispered to Joey, we actually heard it in the piano!

Similarly, Mr. Joiner got his solo number as well, the well-loved "Questa o Quella" from Verdi's Rigoletto, which was sung in garlic-scented Italian of which every word was clear.

Just as one might expect in this bubbly evening, the encore was a group sing of "Libiamo" from Verdi's La Traviata!

This was a marvelous introduction to City Lyric Opera's fourth season and presented many reasons for us opera lovers to give our support, both financially and otherwise.  The next Mainstage event will be Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium which opens appropriately on Halloween. This will be preceded by a Salon Evening on Oct. 15th which should provide some interesting insights into truth and reality.

(c) meche kroop

A DUO OF DONS

Xiaomeng Zhang and Erik van Heyningen (Photo by Richard Termine)

Maritina Tampakopoulos, Gregory Feldmann, Jessica Niles, Hubert Zapiór, Erik van Heyningen,
Meghan Kasanders, and James Ley (photo by Richard Termine)

Mozart's 1787 masterpiece Don Giovanni was perfectly cast and magnificently performed by graduate students of the Juilliard Vocal Arts Department. One could not enjoy better performances on any of the world stages!

If you wanted an appreciation of baritone Hubert Zapiór's ability to create a complex character--an astute portrayal of sociopathic narcissism-- you would have three hours to do so. If you wanted an appreciation of his gorgeous instrument and the skills with which he employs it, you would have had to wait for his "Champagne aria" in Act I and his romantic serenade in Act II-- "Deh vieni alla finestra" which was accompanied by an onstage mandolin, played by George Meyer. It was our favorite moment of the evening, mainly because we love Mr. Zapiór's voice.

We will return on Friday night to see the Don of Xiaomeng Zhang and append the review.  Keep reading!

The main feature of sociopathic narcissists is how sensitively they can suss out the desires of their prey and to charm their way into that place. However, this type of character is only interested in his/her own advantage and hasn't a care for the well being of the chosen victim. These features were successfully enacted in Mr. Zapiór's performance.

And what about his victims? Soprano Meghan Kasanders sang with full open tone that rose to the heights and created a believable character--the aristocratic Donna Anna who is shocked to learn that her would-be rapist and the slayer of her father (Il Commendatore) is fellow aristocrat Don Giovanni. Ms. Kasanders delivery of the difficult arias "Or sai chi l'onore" and "Non mi dir" could not have been better. We believed her sincerity.

Due to the consistency of his interpretation in the role of Don Ottavio, tenor James Ley projected feelings of strength as her supportive suitor. This was not the wimpy Don Ottavio that comes across as easily dismissible; oh no, this was a big-hearted and dependable fellow, and one who could dispatch both of his difficult arias ("Dalla sua pace" and "Il mio tesoro") with ease. This tended to shift the balance in his relationship with Donna Anna. We sensed a different and more satisfying direction in their future; we believed that she would come around and marry him!

The Donna Elvira of Maritina Tampakopoulos was not someone we could laugh at. Her love for Don Giovanni was not crazy, just misguided. The strength of her soprano lent verisimilitude to the characterization. The difficult "Mi tradi" was colored with more than anger and we realize that her character is more complex than we had thought. All those wild skips suggest characterological imbalance but we experienced them as the battle between love and rage, fire and ire.

Zerlina was well realized by soprano Jessica Niles; her character has a touch of narcissism as well, in her willingness to betray the feelings of her husband on their wedding day. In the role of Masetto, baritone Gregory Feldmann was believable as the poor guy who is not too effective in controlling his errant spouse. The scenes of the two of them together involved every possible emotion between two spouses--love, possessiveness, protectiveness, anger, and forgiveness. 

We have a great big cheer for the Leporello of bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen. In this role, everyone waits for the "Catalog Aria"; as good as it was, we took in his entire performance and were impressed by his comedic skills. He made a perfect foil for Don Giovanni who seemed humorless; most of the funny moments in the opera belong to him and he made the most of them. We think Mr. van Heyningen owns this role!

Although he doesn't have as much to sing as the other characters, bass William Guanbo Su made a huge impact as Il Commendatore with his forceful stage presence and deeply resonant instrument.

We noticed that all the artists were more than usually expressive in their gestures as well as in their voices. No movement was wasted and each one seemed connected to what they were singing about--or the subtext. If director Emma Griffin is responsible for this, we give her credit.

However, we found fault with the production as a whole. Clearly Ms. Griffin had some "concept" in mind, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the story or Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto. We enjoyed her direction of Cunning Little Vixen and of Les mamelles di Tirésias (both at Juilliard) so we were terribly disappointed with this illogical and confusing betrayal of the story.

It would take more space than we have to outline all the misjudged directorial decisions but the major one is that all sense of place, period, and class structure were lost. Don Giovanni first appears in a fencing mask and several chorus members were periodically onstage in full fencing gear and even escorted a dead but vertical Il Commendatore offstage.

The opera ends with Don Giovanni being waterboarded or drowned in a fish tank!  He emerges to join in the final ensemble making us wonder if that is meant to be a ghost since none of the other characters seem to see him. But if that's the case, how can he drag Donna Anna offstage by the hair?

In between were dozens of similar inconsistencies, lapses, and anachronisms. If the libretto mentions peasants who are friends of the wedding couple, we want to see peasants in their Sunday best, not kids in gym clothes. If the libretto mentions Don Giovanni wearing a cloak, we want to see a cloak. And why were people taking off their shoes and performing barefoot? What were the modern dancers and fencers doing in the ballroom scene?

There was no set to speak of although Laura Jellinek was listed as "Scenic Designer". There was a fussily patterned backdrop with two doors through which characters came and went without any sense of origin or destination. Occasionally a chair appeared but mostly characters were obliged to sit on the floor. In Act II the small playing area was opened up to include the entire stage with a fish tank way upstage. This was distracting throughout the act but just risible when it was put to use.

Olivera Gajic's costumes were colorful for the main characters but way off base. Il Commendatore appeared as Karl Lagerfeld with white hair and dark glasses. He looked striking but...WHY? Massetto was dressed like a slob in an ill-fitting white suit and inside out tie, whereas his Zerlina was wearing a sparkly bustier with a voluminous pink skirt.  Was she supposed to be a Mafia bride in a Long Island marriage hall? We are meant to laugh at Donna Elvira's timely interruptions and at Leporello's lip-syncing of Don Giovanni's serenade; must we also laugh at the costumes?

Don Giovanni wore a shiny red suit with black sparkly slippers. Only Leporello looked the part, wearing a service apron. There was a funny moment when he and Don Giovanni exchange clothes and the latter doesn't know how to "Don" an apron.

Even the lighting (Mark Barton) was flawed. If the libretto speaks of it being too dark to see, the lighting should be dimmed.

We have no quarrel with a director finding something new to say about an opera if what he/she has to say is not just original but valid. This was not valid. It reminded us of another awful production we saw years ago that set the opera in what looked like a church basement during an AA meeting.

Drama works best when it is specific. The generic nature of the characters and setting left us cold. If a reader is interested in discussing some original ideas about this story, we would be happy to share our own! But they had better be valid!

What about the musical values? We have nothing but good things to say about the Juilliard musicians, both the ones in the pit and the ones who performed onstage in the party scene. We love this score from the portentous opening D minor chord to the cheerful closing ensemble. So how come we felt a sense of emptiness? With Joseph Colaneri on the podium, we expected more.  More what?  More color? Deeper probing of each character's music?  We still haven't figured it out. Perhaps it was just the entire feeling of alienation we felt from the production.

THE INNOCENT MERRIMENT OF THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor at The Juilliard School (photo by Richard Termine)

The overwhelmingly talented students of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School deserved the thunderous applause given at the end of their production of  Otto Nicolai's opera, based, as so many fine operas are, on a work by Shakespeare.  The Merry Wives of Windsor has produced many iterations, including Salieri's earlier Falstaff (produced recently by Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble) and the subsequent Falstaff by Verdi, a staple in the canon.

Nicolai's version is quite different and filled with interesting characterizations and some of the jauntiest music we have heard in some time. The German composer, co-founder of the Vienna Philharmonic, received his musical education in Italy, and died way too young. His music shows both Italian and German influences.

We wish the term "comic opera" had not been wasted on what we would call "dramas with happy endings". Because this work is truly comic in the best sense of the word. The students, most of them at the graduate level, mined the work for its humor and delivered the lovely vocal lines with equal measure of vocal beauty. The mid-19th c. tradition of bel canto is prominent.

Nicolai himself called the work a "komisch/fantastiche Oper"; it was written in the form of a singspiel, with spoken dialogue. In this case, the spoken dialogue was delivered in English and arranged by Director John Giampietro to include lines from Henry IV (both parts) and from A Midsummer Night's Dream. The young romantic couple Anna (soprano Jessica Niles) and Fenton (tenor John Chongyoon Noh) recite to one another lines spoken by Oberon and Titania.

The production was a clever one; the action remained in Windsor but the time was updated to the 1940's and the action took place in a munitions factory which was owned by the wealthy Spärlich (tenor Matthew Pearce). Working on the bombs at opposing tables were two friends--Frau Fluth (Christine Taylor Price) and Frau Reich (mezzo-soprano Kady Evanyshyn).

The two married women are being simultaneously "courted" by Sir John Falstaff (bass Alex Rosen in a fat suit). The major plot shows how the women get their revenge by humiliating him and how he is forgiven, once he shows remorse, in a burst of community spirit. This theme is particularly relevant today as misbehaving men are being publicly shamed and humiliated by women they have wronged.

In a plot point reminiscent of the Countess Almaviva's revenge on her jealous husband (in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro), Herr Fluth (baritone Hubert Zapiór) gets his comeuppance as well.  There is even a scene where he locks the door before looking for his wife's imagined lover.

Librettist Salomon Hermann von Mosenthal transferred parenthood of young Anna to the Reich's thereby giving them more stage time. Frau Reich has selected a suitor for Anna--Dr. Cajus (bass Andrew Munn with an hilarious French accent); Herr Reich (bass William Guanbo Su) has chosen the aforementioned wealthy owner of the factory.

Anna has a mind of her own and manages to marry Fenton, giving them some gorgeous duets. They seem to have escaped the war between the sexes.

Fleshing out the funny bones of this opera is the most delightfully melodic music. Conductor Teddy Poll kept things moving along at a brisk pace and the four-handed piano reduction was brightly performed by Chris Reynolds and Adam Rothenberg, two of our favorite pianists at Juilliard. They played behind a wall, out of sight.

It would be remiss not to mention the two lovely instrumentalists who accompanied Mr. Cho onstage--violinist Cherry Choi Tung Yeung and Lisa Choi who deftly handled the piccolo part, especially when she imitated the lark.

If we mentioned every musical and dramatic moment that tickled us, we would have to go on for hours, but let us mention just a few.  The Act I duet between Ms. Price (whom we are thinking of as Ms. Pipes) and Ms. Evanyshyn was a perfect representation of what a soprano and mezzo can do with gorgeous intertwining lines.

Mr. Rosen's "serenade" was hilariously pompous. It was quite a thrill to hear three basses in one opera. They were all different and all superb.

Dazzling our ears was Mr. Zapiór's rich and mellow baritone. He was also hilarious stomping around with his cane in a jealous rage and climbing into the laundry basket to look for Falstaff.

Ms. Price nearly stole the show practicing her seductive moves on a factory worker whose facial expressions in response were classic. Her contentious duet with Mr. Zapiór was another highlight.

Ms. Niles' interaction with Mr. Cho was as tender as their singing. Their voices were perfect for the ingenue roles they performed.

Mr. Pearce got some laughs when he agreed to marry Anna whom he thought he might "grow to love in time".  His tenor fell beautifully on the ear.

The chorus of townspeople commenting on the action was well integrated-- Khady Gueye, Brittany Hewitt, Ryan Hurley, Connor Ouly, Shereen Pimental, James Rootring and Maggie Renée Valdman. Mr. Hurley had a brief appearance as Prince Hal and Brittany Hewitt performed Mistress Quickly.

Scenic Designer Alexis Distler created a very believable munitions factory as seen in the photo above, and Kate Ashton lit it cleverly. Audrey Nauman's costumes were appropriate to the time and place, including the head scarves one sees in photos of female factory workers of the time.

As is our wont, we don't read program notes until after the performance, hoping that the production will speak for itself. This one did. We got every nuance that Mr. Giampietro was going for.

Since the performing space was flanked by audience seated on both sides of the room, we had an opportunity to observe the wide smiles on the faces across from us, whenever we could tear our eyes away from the action. It is rare to have that much fun at the opera! It was difficult to tell whether the cast or the audience was enjoying more.

If we have one beef it is only that too few people will get to see this worthy show. It surely deserves a wider audience!

As fine as the piano reduction was written and played, we would love to see this opera again with a full orchestra. Listening to the overture online, we concluded that Nicolai had a wonderful feel for orchestration.

This opera deserves to be right up there with Rossini's comedies!

(c) meche kroop

THE BEST FREE SHOW IN TOWN

Chris Reynolds, Yoon Lee, Natalia Katyukova, Jessica Niles, Nathaniel LaNasa, Kady Evanyshyn, Jacob Scharfman, Anneliese Klenetsky, and Ji Yung Lee

We really missed the Liederabend programming at Juilliard over the summer and are happy to note that the program got off to a stellar start yesterday with a magnificent program, curated and coached by Natalia Katyukova, accompanied by Chris Reynolds, Yoon Lee, and Ji Yung Lee. Over the past few years we have watched the audience grow from a smattering of lieder lovers to a throng. This fame is well deserved. One could not have found a better recital at any price.

It was admirable that each of the four featured singers took the stage with confidence, introduced her/himself, and told enough about their chosen work so that we in the audience could appreciate their involvement. We wish more recitalists did the same. A singer of lieder is a conduit through which the poet speaks and the composer resounds. Their individual interpretations can give new life to familiar works or introduce us to material that may be new to us.

Mezzo-soprano Kady Evanyshyn opened the program with five lovely songs by Clara Schumann. This is a composer who speaks  (sings) to us with Austrian Romanticism in full flower. Readers know how much we love melody! It was obvious from the first note that Ms. Evanyshyn loves Clara's music as much as we do. We are always elated to see her somewhat overlooked oeuvre on a program.

The wise choice of text goes halfway toward making a memorable song. Heinrich Heine's text is almost always a great choice. "Ich stand in dunklen Traumen" is a mournful tale of love and loss while "Sie liebten sich beide, doch keiner" is a more ironic story of love never realized--perhaps an even greater loss.

"Die Lorelei" is one of Heine's horror stories and allowed Ms. Evanyshyn and her collaborative pianist Ji Yung Lee the opportunity to indulge in totally different coloration with the rippling in the piano suggesting the waves and both artists conveying a sense of urgency.

It was a welcome relief to hear the peaceful "Der Mond kommt still gegangen". The final selection was "Am Strande", a German translation of Robert Burns' poem "Musing on the roaring ocean".

Ms. Evanyshyn has a lovely and gracious stage presence, using only minimal gesture and allowing the text and musical phrasing to shine through. She never allows her gifts to steal attention from the music.

Next on the program was soprano Anneliese Klenetsky with Chris Reynolds as collaborative pianist. She too introduced herself with grace and enthused about her discovery that Benjamin Britten set some Russian text. This was a discovery for us too and we found the songs as unsettling as Ms. Klenetsky did. The text for this cycle, The Poet's Echo, was written by one of Russia's preeminent poets Alexander Pushkin. The cycle struck us as the cry of despair from being unheard.

The performance was superb and Ms. Klenetsky captured the inherent drama with a self-possessed maturity and conveyed the mood of these non-pretty songs. Our favorite was "Angel" in which the gentleness of an angel overcomes the sullenness of Satan. 

In "The nightingale and the rose" we loved the way Mr. Reynolds captured the song of the nightingale on the piano. In "Lines Written During a Sleepless Night" the melody wanders in a searching manner the way an insomniac searches for sleep.

We love the sound of Russian and our love grows the more we become familiar with its sound. We would have to say that we enjoy Rachmaninov more than Britten and soprano Jessica Niles began by telling the audience how she chose these songs for their imagery and, indeed we could see through her eyes and hear through her voice.

We think it made quite a difference that she translated the songs herself since she seemed to know exactly what she was singing about, giving each phrase a sense of movement toward the "goal note". These are luscious songs and each one carries a mood of its own, all well captured by Ms. Niles and Yoon Lee, her collaborative pianist.

"At Night in My Garden" tells of a willow whose tears will be wiped away by the tresses of the poet. Such a tender picture! All sadness disappeared with the joy of "The Daisies". There is unmistakeable charm in "The Pied Piper" whom we wanted to follow. "Dream" was filled with wonder and was a fine antidote to Britten's song about insomnia!

Bringing the program to a stunning close was baritone Jacob Scharfman who introduced the songs of Erich Korngold and told of Korngold's birth in Austria and his success as a composer of music for film in Hollywood. Strangely, this was news to us since we always thought of him as the composer of the opera Die Tote Stadt! The songs were written by Korngold when he was still a wunderkind in his native Austria. Mr. Scharfman shared with the audience the reason for his choice; his forebears were also Austrian Jews.

The songs have an Early 20th c. feel and some of the lavishness of Richard Strauss. Mr. Scharfman also did much of his own translation. "Reiselied" is a most cheerful and energetic song of optimism, a setting of text by Joseph von Eichendorff, one of our favorite poets for lieder. "Osterreichischer Soldatenabschied" allowed shifts of mode from the piano of the wonderful Nathaniel LaNasa which were reflected vocally by Mr. Scharfman.

Perhaps our favorite was "Nachts" which conveyed a mysterious and elusive mood, emphasized by a repetitive motif in the piano involving alternation of a whole step, much slower than a trill. The program ended with "Versuchung"--a rather puzzling text.

Mr. Scharfman's performance was marked by the expansiveness of a generous spirit and a personal involvement with the text and music. There was a lovely resonance to his instrument and fine German diction.

All in all it was a delightful treat to hear such fine artistry. One could not have heard better at any price. If you haven't attended a Liederabend at Juilliard, you owe it to yourself to enjoy such a treat. But be advised that tickets are free and can disappear rapidly.

(c) meche kroop