SOME LIGHT EMERGES

Angela Dinkelman, Lydia Adelle Brown, Caroline Worra, Billy Huyler, Laura Virella, and Alexander Mason

Last night we attended the opening of Utopia Opera's production of Some Light Emerges.  In an original concept by co-librettist Mark Campbell, five very different characters are profoundly affected by visiting the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. That we cared about the follow-up, in which we learn about their futures, testifies to the superior performances of all six cast members whose acting was as fine as their singing.

Caroline Worra is completely believable as Dominique de Menil, the society matron/philanthropist who established an ecumenical sanctuary in Houston, commissioning canvases from Mark Rothko. It was interesting that when Rothko butted heads with architect Philip Johnson, the latter was replaced. The chapel opened in 1971. Not only did her character have several monologues (one could not call them arias) but she remained onstage throughout the performance, gazing benevolently upon the five individuals who visit during different time periods, each one delivering a monologue. The theme is that each is transformed by the artwork.

Billy Huyler portrays Tom, a visitor from the hinterlands who comes to enjoy some air conditioning--an escape from the Texas heat. Unwittingly he becomes subject to the power of the art and returns from time to time.

Angela Dinkelman plays the role of Margie, a housewife/mother who is enjoying a day of self-indulgence which includes dining on frog's legs at a French restaurant. She returns also but with a twist we will not reveal.

Laura Virella was totally convincing as a Latina lesbian who has come to the chapel for a memorial for a friend who died of AIDS. She too has an interesting twist in her future. What goes around, as they say.

Alexander Mason took the role of Albert, an Algerian immigrant working in IT who is bearing the brunt of hostility toward Middle-Easterners just after 9/11. He is in fact a Berber.

Lydia Adelle Brown gave a convincing performance as Cece, an African-American teenager from New Orleans who has been uprooted by Katrina and taken in by a Houston family. She is filled with anger but her exposure to Rothko's paintings, encouraged by her teacher (guess who!), produces a profound change in her future.

After all those monologues, it was a pleasure to see a couple of the characters interact toward the end.

If you love stories like this, which we do, you will enjoy this music-theater piece. If you love Rothko's art, which we do not, you will also enjoy this work. And if you are a fan of contemporary opera you will find much to enjoy here.

Our feelings about Laura Kaminsky's music are mixed. The instrumental music, as performed by some superb musicians under the baton of Maestro William Remmers, is sometimes lyrical and, at other times, jarring and disharmonious. (Guess which we liked!) But there is nary a suggestion of a pleasing melodic line for the singers, which seems to be the current standard for contemporary opera. That Ms. Kaminsky is celebrated is a fact-- but we still didn't emerge from the 75 min. piece with a desire to repeat the experience.

Lochlan Brown was impressive on the keyboard and we particularly appreciated the sonorities of the winds (flute, bassoon, and trombone--quite an unusual combination). We also noted the interesting percussion.

The libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed (who also partnered with Ms. Kaminsky for the recently reviewed As One) was wordy and reads better than it sings. It might have worked better as a play. Actually, we perceived it more as one of those one-woman plays in which a gifted actor plays all the parts.  We loved Mr. Campbell's libretto for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, seen at Santa Fe Opera--the review of which can be found by utilizing the search bar. In that case, his words and Mason Bates' music seemed to work well together. We did not have that experience on this occasion. One might say that the light that emerged did not enlighten us.

Stage Direction by David Schweizer was simple but appropriate, as was the simple costuming by Eric Lamp and Angel Betancourt.

We missed melody and we missed Maestro Remmers' pre-performance dry humor in his role as Artistic Director. We didn't see hide nor hair of him until he ascended the podium!

(c) meche kroop

NOCHE DE SAN JUAN

Pablo Castillo, Rosa Betancourt, Laura Virella, José Heredia, and Keith Chambers

As explained in a most welcoming introduction by Laura Virella, La Noche de San Juan is a festive Latin American holiday, almost coinciding with the Summer Solstice--an amalgam of a Catholic holiday and a pagan celebration, involving bonfires and other festivities.

We were overjoyed to share this celebration (without bonfires) at the Inwood Art Works Culture Hub, a very new community center for the arts in Inwood. It is so new that the large crowd attending this special evening of art song and zarzuela was rather unexpected. We believe this to be Inwood's first cultural center and it is already wildly successful. "If you build it they will come."  And come they did!

We have noticed that along with the many small opera companies carving out niches for themselves, there has also been a movement toward bringing the arts to the various neighborhoods. When we first began writing, our world centered around Lincoln Center. Now we find ourselves traveling to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn and Manhattan, seeing new faces, new neighborhoods, and new venues.

The evening was an unqualified success. Readers know how highly we prize Latin American music and the program comprised both art song and selections from a zarzuela that we plan to produce next year in its entirety--Federico Moreno Torroba's 1932 Luisa Fernandez.

Three of the singers were known to us as was the accompanist Maestro Keith Chambers, who seems to be everywhere these days. He pulled some interesting sounds from an electronic keyboard.

Mezzo-soprano Laura Virella possesses a lovely expressive voice and a passion for Latin American art song that gives her delivery a jolt of drama, bringing each song to vivid life. She opened the program with a trio of songs about the sea by Jack Délano, settings of texts by female poets. 

The marriage of music to text in these mid 20th c. songs was pure delight, the likes of which we have not observed in 20th c. songs from our own country. It is obvious that Latin American composers were not taken in by weird academic movements that took songwriting into areas devoid of melody! These songs are delightfully tuneful!

Soprano Rosa Betancourt has a brightness in her instrument that was employed to highlight the cheerful beginning of Rafael Hernánez' "Lamento borincano" but there was an interesting switch to the minor mode when the hopeful merchant fails to find customers and pathos is heard. Mr. Chambers provided some lovely arpeggi in the left hand.

For her performance of Campos' "Felices días", she was accompanied by Ms. Virella playing the Guiro, a gourd with ridges that is stroked for a raspy sound. This song is typical of the "Danza", a turn of the 20th c. type of song that elevated folk music to the level of art song. (Think Stephen Foster).

Tenor José Heredia has a generosity and ease of sound that brought great passion to "Granada", written by Mexican composer Agustín Lara in 1932. He never forces his high notes and displayed a lovely messa di voce.

Ms. Virella returned for a quartet of songs by Puerto Rican composer Narciso Figueroa, written in 1976. We doubt that there is anything in the Puerto Rican song literature that Ms. Virella does not know. Her charm is like a perfume that scents everything she sings. We loved the romantic "Madrugada" and the regretful "Muerta". "Vida criolla" is a song in praise of ignorance and the simple life.

"Amapola" by Spanish composer José María Lacalle García, which was composed in 1920, is as recognizable as "Granada", a wonderful serenade. To hear Mr. Heredia sing it was a thrill. He easily assailed the "money note" without a hint of pushing.

Chilean Baritone Pablo Castillo closed the first half of the program with a 1965 composition by his countryman Vicente Bianchi, the setting of a text by Pablo Neruda called "Antes de amarte", followed by a tango by Argentinean Astor Piazzolla called "Los pájaros perdidos". Mr. Castillo has a lovely resonant sound and sang expressively in these songs which bore a less folklike theme and a more sophisticated text.

The second part of the program was devoted to zarzuela, the art form that has so captured our interest.  Torroba's Luisa Fernanda is one of the best and the four singers captured the essence of the story with a series of excerpts. Like all great stories, it involves a love triangle against a background of revolutionary politics in 1868, just prior to the revolution against Queen Isabel II, who will be dethroned.

The heroine Luisa (Ms. Virella) is fed up with her off-and-on lover, Javier, a military man (Mr. Heredia). She is courted by the wealthy older landowner Vidal (Mr. Castillo) who knows she loves Javier but is hopeful. Meanwhile, the Duchess Carolina (Ms. Betancourt) has her eye on Javier for reasons as political as they are romantic. She also has designs on Vidal who doesn't quite trust her.

This zarzuela has it all--a compelling story, unforgettable melodies, comedy, romance, pathos, and politics. At times we heard tunes that sounded downright Neapolitan. No wonder this zarzuela has seen over 10,000 performances.  That is NOT a misprint!

The evening closed with an excerpt from a different zarzuela of the same period--"El último romántico" by Sotullo and Vert. We heard Mr. Heredia perform the aria "Bella enamorada", a perfect way to end a glorious evening.

(c) meche kroop

AMORE OPERA'S TURN TO SIT IN THE BARBER CHAIR

Mary Gwynne Langston, Laura Virella, Gennadiy Vysotskiy, Jay Gould, David Tillistrand, and Drew Watson

Rossini's comic masterpiece Il barbiere di Siviglia is an opera one can enjoy many many times over.  And so we have. It is the champagne of the opera oeuvre--light, flavorful, and effervescent. Thankfully, no one recently has tried to update it; it belongs firmly in the early 19th c. and still delights us two centuries later. It's characters seem derived from commedia dell'arte but have become more three-dimensional.

There is the lecherous old man--Don Bartolo (the very funny bass Jay Gould); there is the spunky ingenue Rosina (the winsome mezzo-soprano Laura Virella); the wily servant Figaro (impressive baritone David Tillistrand), and the lovesick youth Count Almaviva (tenor Drew Watson). We have Dr. Bartolo's oily accomplice Don Basilio (bass Gennadiy Vysotskiy) and a pair of servants afflicted by sneezing--Berta (Mary Gwynne Langston)--and yawning--Ambrogio (Ricardo Figueroa).

When we see an opera as oft produced as this one, we always wonder what a director can add to what we already know about the opera.  We do believe that singers make the best directors, and we never enjoy operas in "the big house" directed by people who know nothing about opera. In this production, Artistic Director Nathan Hull directed as astutely as we have come to expect, adding several clever touches. 

The one we liked the best was the trio of dancers who added visual interest to every scene in which they appeared.  At first, they were clients/fans of Figaro and in the instrumental intermezzo storm scene they danced with umbrellas. It was a charming touch. Angel Joy did the choreography. Dancers were Katrina Victoria Asmar, Ashley Carter, and Victoria Manoli.

The invention we liked the least was putting the dialogue and most of the recitativi in English. The translation was awkward and the enunciation imperfect. We found ourself wishing for titles. We do admit that some of the interpolations did a good job of explaining the action and others were witty and timely; the audience certainly enjoyed them. It is just our taste which prefers Italian.

We brought home certain memories that delight us--Ms. Virella's creation of her character as a real live flesh and blood heroine who can toss off scale passages and interesting embellishments with equal aplomb in "Una voce poco fa" ; Mr. Gould's shambling walk and booming bass used in service of the arrogance of his character in "A un dottor della mia sorte"; Mr. Vysotskiy's total mastery of the role of Don Basilio, making the most of "La calunnia".

Berta's aria was given a fine performance by Ms. Lang who had to overcome youth and beauty to convince us that her Berta was scorned in love because of her age! We enjoyed Ms. Virella's duet with Mr. Tillistrand ("Dunque io son") which they invested with good comic chemistry. We liked Fiorello's serenade (Hector Mori).

Mr. Watson's comic acting served him well as the drunken soldier trying to get access to Bartolo's home. Even funnier was his turn as "Don Alfonso" a music teacher irritating Bartolo with his repetitive "Joia, pace, pace, joia". The "Buona sera, mie signore" always delights us. And the ensembles ending each act are always sheer craziness.

Well, we guess we'd have to say there was just one delight following another without a letup. Richard Cerullo was Scenic Designer and provided just what was needed. Lauren Bremen's lighting succeeded in creating the dawn during the serenade scene. Cynthia Psoras' costuming was apt and attractive.

Conductor Scott Jackson Wiley surprised us by playing the guitar during Almaviva's serenade. We consulted the program notes and, yes, he is well known as a guitarist. He did his best to pull together an orchestra that seems to always suffer from intonation problems, including a recalcitrant horn.  Concertmaster Holly Horn kept the melodies coming sweetly and purely. And we heard some nice playing in the bassoon section. The harpsichord continuo was excellently performed on a synthesizer.

There will be several opportunities to catch this delightful production until New Year's Eve, for which there will be a gala with dinner and midnight toast.

(c) meche kroop

GILDA-- NOT IN A TRUNK

Aaron Blankfield, Laura Virella, Jessica Sandige, and Robert Garner in Amore Opera's production of Rigoletto

Every one of the smaller sized opera companies in New York has its own style, its own mission, and its own constituency. The plucky Amore Opera sprang like a phoenix from the ashes of the Amato Opera Company; they serve their audience well by presenting honorable productions of operas-- both well known and undiscovered ones alike. We use the word "honorable" because there is no giant ego here trying to make an opera "relevant" by updating it or shoehorning it into a different locale. The composer and librettist are well served, as well as the singers and the audience.

Here we have Artistic and Stage Director Nathan Hull who really understands opera and opera singers and lets them show their stuff in a highly legitimate fashion. Apparently, his view of the major themes of Giuseppi Verdi's Rigoletto is consonant with our own. He takes us exactly where librettist Francesco Maria Piave meant for us to be--16th c. Mantua, where a licentious Duke could surround himself with courtiers and employ a hunchback as his court jester.

As we see it, and Mr. Hull as well, the major themes are 1) the corruption of the spirit that can occur when a body is deformed, 2) the possibility of fine and tender sentiments in even the most abrasive character, and 3) the supernatural belief in the effectiveness of a curse.

When an individual is ostracized by society, his character gets deformed in any one of a number of possible ways. Rigoletto's eponymous hero is opera's version of Shakespeare's Richard III, trying to gain power over his tormentors.

Rigoletto, while a holy terror at court, is a devoted loving father to Gilda; his failure is loving too much and being too restrictive of her freedom. She has not had the opportunity to develop her own judgment, a quality that is earned by learning from one's mistakes.

16th c. folk took curses very seriously and it is here that Mr. Hull's directorial touches made perfect sense. Whenever Monterone's curse was mentioned, the lighting and the music and the acting let us know, in no uncertain terms, that Rigoletto was petrified.  (That was one of the failures of the Metropolitan Opera's most recent production which placed the action in contemporary Las Vegas.  As if anyone in today's America would be afraid of a curse!)

There is something about a small house that lets the audience members feel everything more intensely.  The theater in the Sheen Center on Bleeker Street only holds about 250 people and everyone gets to feel the annoyance of the courtiers, the callous indifference of the Duke, the shame of the abducted daughter, the grief of the father, and the flexible morality of the hired assassin Sparafucile.

As Rigoletto, baritone Robert Garner turned in his reliably excellent performance with acting that matched vocalism; he permitted us to see the softer feelings which underlay the hunchback's abrasive behavior at court. His Act I aria was performed in front of the curtain, allowing the sets to be changed for the scene in his home, and allowing the audience a greater understanding of his character.

Soprano Jessica Sandige made a fine Gilda, showing her character's innocence and devotion to her father by means of gesture and vocal color.  Their duet in the second scene of Act I began in 3/4 time but the time signature changed as emotions grew in intensity. We are very much looking forward to Ms. Sandige's performance with Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance in July. And we hope she will use her excellent "Caro nome" as an audition piece.

We first heard and reviewed tenor Aaron Blankfield four years ago at Chelsea Opera in the role of Goro and are glad to see his promise fulfilled. Last night he showed a completely different side of himself than he did recently as Nemorino. Going from that role to that of the Duke was like day into night but he acquitted himself well.  He really shone in Act II with "Ella mi fu rapita!" We actually like Mr. Blankfield's voice best in the more piano passages, at which he excels.

Another highlight of Act II was the scene in which Gilda confesses her shame to her father. She literally cannot face him. The emotionalism was intense.

As Maddalena, mezzo-soprano Laura Virella was totally believable--just as vulnerable to the charms of the Duke as Gilda was--and convincingly persuasive with her brother as she begged him to spare the Duke's life, even as he sings the famous "La donna è mobile", driving the audience wild.

The Act III quartet was brilliant with all four major character singing of their desires and fears. Most poignant is Rigoletto's wish for vengeance and Gilda's desire for forgiveness for the Duke.

We enjoyed the substantial baritone of Sam Carl as the outraged Count of Monterone who lays his curse upon the Duke and Rigoletto, both indifferent to the violation of his daughter.  And this was a spot where Mr. Hull's direction amplified the impact.

In the same scene, the Count of Ceprano (baritone Thomas Geib) suffered extraordinary humiliation when children entered and literally placed horns on his head because the Duke was going to have his way with the Countess of Ceprano (mezzo-soprano Mary Gwynne Langston). Just another brilliant directorial touch that emphasized the cruelty of the court.

Bass Peter Ludwig sang the role of Sparafucile in a menacing manner. Baritone Stuart Whalen took the role of Marullo and tenor Daniel Kerr sang the part of Borsa. As Giovanna, Gilda's guilty governess, Janelle Kirton overdid her gestures in an inappropriately modern fashion.

Maestro Douglas Martin conducted with Verdian vigor. The strings  produced a lovely carpet of sound, but the brass took awhile to calm down. We particularly liked Richard Paratley's flute solo. It is challenging for the artists to sing over the orchestra, which is not in a pit. But that is just a factor to be tolerated since there is no way to change it.

Sets were simple but worked well. There was a throne and some panels to suggest the court. Rigoletto's terrace worked well with a street entrance and a rear one. Rigoletto's role in holding the ladder in the abduction scene was made clear. Sparafucile's tavern seemed barren and isolated which added to the feeling in Act III.

Costumes were colorful and suggestive of the Renaissance. Choreography by Dana Boll was effective but unnecessary. One minor flaw of Amore Opera is tending to crowd the small stage with either too many people or too much scenery.

Fine work was done by the chorus, under the direction of Susan Morton. Their voices added greatly to the storm scene, providing the sounds of the wind while the orchestra produced the thunder.

If you wish to see the same cast, you will find them onstage next Saturday night. However, we understand that the other casts are equally fine and there are several performances from which to choose.  There are even two Saturday matinees with an abridged version for children.

(c) meche kroop