ANTHROPOMORPHIC OPERA

Maestro Jorge Parodi and Cast Members of "Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears"

It is difficult to believe that Leoš Janáček wrote his own libretto for The Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears based on a child's comic strip.  As if a child could comprehend those deep philosophical ideas!  The 1924 work deals with man's relationship to the natural world and shows a deeply compassionate but unsentimental view of the cycles of birth and death.

The feisty Vixen is captured by the Forester who brings her home as a pet.  When she attacks the rooster and hens, she is tied up.  But she escapes in search of freedom and finds a mate. After a shotgun wedding, they start a family but she meets her sad end (as people also sometimes do) due to an overweening sense of invulnerability.

Staging this opera with its anthropomorphization is always a challenge. We have enjoyed productions at Juilliard, at the New York Philharmonic, and at Manhattan School of Music where we had a fine time at a production by the Summer Voice Program, done on a shoestring, a production that no one but us seems to remember.

The current production at Manhattan School of Music is definitely memorable! We were deeply affected by the inherent drama, elicited with keen imagination, consummate dedication, and hard work by Director Dona D. Vaughn. Janacek's muscular score was conducted by the gifted conductor Jorge Parodi who must have labored long and hard to have elicited such a superlative performance from undergraduate musicians. Janacek relied heavily on the winds and they came through with flying colors. Moravian folk melodies delighted the ear.

And the voices!!! Soprano Shantal Martin used her fine healthy instrument to scale the heights and underscore the expressiveness of her role. What is more, her acting was, well, fox-like. We believed her performance totally. We were so taken in that her death brought tears to her eyes. The idea of the poacher using her skin to make a muff for his bride made us glad that we were not wearing fur.

The role of the Forester, who captures her and brings her home to his family, was sung by baritone Michael Gracco who was just as convincing. His voice was smooth and eminently listenable and he created a character who was, if not terribly likable, terribly believable. There was a hint of sexualization in his interaction with the Vixen. He felt rejected when she escaped and had the vengefulness of a rejected lover.

His wife, mezzo-soprano Victoria Isneria, was angry about the new flea-ridden addition to the family, and perhaps a bit jealous. Later in Act III, the Forester reminisces about his romantic courtship but the direction made it clear that his current interest was in his dog and his rifle, not his wife. These are the little touches that make reality out of a fantastic story. Their two children Frantik (soprano Hannah Black) and Pepik (mezzo-soprano Montana York) tease the Vixen and the family dog (soprano Polixeni Tziouvaras) makes advances on her which she rejects, even though the dog tells her he is a song writer! Oh, the secret life of animals!

Once back in the forest, the Vixen meets her mate, the seductive but caring Gold-Spur, performed by soprano Victoria Falcone. The services of a parson Woodpecker (Hannah Black) are called for post-haste as the forest creatures are given to gossip, just another instance of animals being used to comment on bourgeois human life.

One doesn't hear much in the way of arias but the poacher Haraschta gets to sing two fine folk songs. Fortunately baritone Jose Maldonado has a splendid voice and made the most of it. Mr. Gracco closes the opera with a gorgeous paean to the peace of the forest. 

We would need lots of pages to call attention to all the memorable scenes. The chorus of chickens accompanied by their rooster brought to mind a clutch of male-pleasing "escorts" ruled by a pimp. The rooster was performed by soprano Jihye Oh. The Vixen's proto-feminist lecture to these Stepford chickens was hilarious.

Dances choreographed by John-Mark Owen, whose work we have always admired, filled the stage with graceful members of the woodland community--Heeso Son's Butterfly, Ms. York's Frog, Sarah Schultz' Dragonfly, Ms. Isneria's Cricket,  Alexandra Koutelos' Grasshopper, Claudilia Holloway's Jay, and Biran Egan's Mosquito. Their body movements were just about perfect.

Moving on to the human world, the scene in Pasek's inn was very well done and totally believable--men sitting around drinking, playing cards,  and teasing one another. Pasek was sung by Mr. Egan. The lovelorn schoolmaster was sung by tenor Emmett Tross and the judgmental Parson was sung by bass Guanbo Su who also used his big bass for the role of the grumpy Badger who gets evicted from his home by the Vixen. 

We liked the schoolmaster stumbling home intoxicated and hallucinating his lost love.

The courtship of Sharp-Ears by Gold-Spur was so well done we couldn't help comparing it to Act I of Puccini's La Boheme in which the prospective lovers try to impress one another humble-boasting about their lives.

There was so much about this production to cherish. The costuming by Summer Lee Jack was imaginative and colorful, telling so much about each character. Kate Ashton's set was simple--some sunflowers and a large tree trunk for the forest and a plain table and chairs for the Forester's home and Pasek's inn.

The program offered no credit for the translation which was the best we ever heard. Verbal accents marched in step with musical accents and avoided the displeasure we usually experience when an opera is not performed in its original language. Steven Jude Tietjen was credited as "Supertitles Author" and, since he is a writer, perhaps he adapted someone's translation.  In any event, the titles were apt and witty.

We must also credit Assistant Director Annie Shikany who was responsible for the superb English diction coaching which made the titles superfluous.  Every word was clear which is something we do not take for granted.

All in all, one could not have asked for anything more in an opera production. That they were all undergraduates is astonishing!  We sat next to Catherine Malfitano who taught these gifted young artists in their Junior year so they were well on their way by the time they advanced to Dona Vaughn's Senior Opera Theater. If we were free we would happily return to see the other cast but, sadly, we are not.

If you can beg, borrow, or steal a ticket to one of the next three performances, you will be amply rewarded for your efforts.  This one is a true winner!

(c) meche kroop

THE KING SAID SO!

The cast of Léo Delibes' Le roi l'a dit at Manhattan School of Music

We never get to see the Sun King Louis XIV onstage but he is the engine driving the deliriously silly plot of Léo Delibes' 1873 operetta presented for the past four nights at Manhattan School of Music. A golden medallion of his royal visage adorns the reception room in the home of Le Marquis de Moncontour, who has earned an audience with the King by capturing a stray parrot.

The work itself is like a meringue. Beaten just right, you get a delectable confection. Beaten too little and there is no shape; beaten excessively and things get nasty. The team of Director Dona D. Vaughn and Music Director of the Senior Opera Theater/Conductor Jorge Parodi are so incredibly effective that we wonder why the revered Metropolitan Opera cannot do such honor to the operas they choose to present.

This piece of fluff is a period piece and the entire production team gave us exactly what was intended--a gentle satire using stock characters to poke fun at the aristocracy, arranged marriages, duels, clever servants outwitting their masters, class distinctions, yearning for power, and awe of those in "superior positions".

The work itself is less than two hours in length; reading the plot summary takes almost as long! But the ending brings joy to the Moncontour household; the two marriageable daughters get the husbands they want, the two disdained suitors chosen by the parents get frightened off after a mock duel, the clever servant girl Javotte gets to spend her life with Benoit, the sweetheart from her village, and the Marquis and Marquise can stop quarreling. They are happy. We are happy.

The big joke is the sudden Pygmalion-like transformation of Benoit; he wants to better himself and falls into a situation where the Marquis needs to produce a son to win favor from the King. Miton, the household etiquette tutor, achieves the transformation in ten lessons. Benoit, dressed to the nines, adopts the mien of arrogance and becomes thereby convincingly aristocratic.

He presses his advantage to dispatch the unwelcome suitors, to rescue the daughters from a convent, and ensure that they get the husbands they have chosen for themselves.

The libretto for this silly but pointed plot was written by Edmond Gondinet and first offered to Jacques Offenbach who was and is known for his fine hand at this sort of thing. That Delibes was equally assured at frivolity came to us as a delightful surprise. The work was a modest success in the 19th c. and was revived a few times in the 20th c. but was never before presented in the United States. 

The music is as light and tickly as champagne. Maestro Jorge Parodi took command of his fine orchestra right from the overture, comprising an opening march, followed by a lyrical theme, and then a frisky one.

But oh, those melodies! They tumbled out one after another with the entire cast doing a splendid job with their fresh young well-trained voices. Particularly lovely was the duet between Benoit, the upwardly mobile peasant (terrific tenor Philippe L'Esperance) and his sweetheart Javotte who left her village to come work for the Marquis. This role was sung by soprano Alexandra Linde, an adorable Swedish songbird, possessor of astounding coloratura skills.

Speaking of adorable, if the four daughters had not been chosen for their fine voices, we would have believed they were chosen for their looks. In ensemble, they harmonized happily. Only petite soprano Christa Dalmazio had an aria to show off her fine coloratura. The other three were sopranos Nicole Rowe and Grace Kidd, and mezzo-soprano Alanna Fraize.

The sycophantic Marquis was well portrayed by baritone Michael Gracco and the Marquise by the fine mezzo-soprano Monica Talavera.

The two desirable suitors were britches roles and soprano Eleanor Coleman and mezzo-soprano Agness Nyama made them vocally and dramatically appealing. In the second act trio with Benoit, we were astonished by the musical modernity of Delibes' writing. It sounded almost like jazz singers doing scat!

The two cast-off suitors were portrayed by baritones Nicholas Krsnich and Seok Jong Baek.

Matthew Hernandez made a fine servant to the household. As Miton, the pompous etiquette tutor, Marshall Morrow overplayed his part by half but it just added to the fun. After all, we are watching stock characters meant to utilize a very broad acting style.

The costumes by Summer Lee Jack were appropriately over the top, poking fun at the High Baroque. The set by Kate Ashton was simple but effective; there were sheer white drapes, a few pieces of period furniture, some flowers, and a screen for suitors to hide behind (of course). We spied a couple porcelain rabbits hiding under tables.

Ms. Vaughn kept the action moving at a fast pace and wisely chose to have the dialogue in English and the singing in French. French diction was fine all around, thanks to the efforts of Bénédicte Jourdois. 

We walked out smiling and humming the tunes, wondering why no one ever thought to revive this gem before. Perhaps it was chosen for its large cast, giving so many talented young singers a chance to perform. Whatever the reason, we are grateful that the always enterprising folks at Manhattan School of Music put it on stage. 

(c) meche kroop

ON THE VIENNA-BHUTAN EXPRESS

Benjamin Dickerson, Dominick Corbacio, Maria Brea, and Kendrick Pifer

Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns is translated as "The Land of Smiles". Our pleasure in the performance we saw at Manhattan School of Music was so intense that one might think the term referred to the effect of the piece on the audience.

Although Lehár's fame was established by his 1905 Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), we consider this 1929 operetta to be a superior work with greater depth and lovelier music. Whoever has not thrilled to "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" has probably never heard it. Hearing it sung last night by tenor Dominick Corbacio in the role of Prince Sou Chong was pure heaven. The song made Richard Tauber famous and we hope it will do the same for Mr. Corbacio. Accomplished way beyond his senior student status, he has a pleasing tone and floats his high notes without pushing.

The plot of this work likely satisfied the needs of the Viennese public to be exposed to the exoticism of Asia and the equivalent need to see Vienna as the best place on earth. It concerns Lisa (the lovely soprano Maria Brea), daughter of General Lichtenfels (effective bass Gabriel Rollinson), who graciously turns down the marital offer of Count Gustav von Pottenstein (superb baritone Benjamin Dickerson) to run off with Prince Sou Chong to wed him in his own kingdom.  Although the work was set in 1912 China, by the costuming we believe we were meant to be in Bhutan.

The Prince's Uncle Tschang (baritone Seok Jong Baek, excellent in a thankless role) does not recognize the marriage and insists that the Prince marry "the chosen one". This does not sit well with Lisa and when the Prince turns unpleasantly authoritarian, she realizes she cannot live under such restrictions and must be rescued by Count Gustav. This requires the lovely Maria Brea to go through a spectrum of emotions which she achieved, while retaining the clarity of tone and fine phrasing that made her a winning heroine.

A subplot involves the Count falling for the Prince's sister Mi,  sung by the delightfully charming Kendrick Pifer who brought the role alive with her winning personality and admirable coloratura. Their duet "Zig, zig, zig" was enchanting. When the Count left she switched moods and became wistful in "Wie rasch verwelkte doch!"

The bittersweet ending has everyone accepting their fates and relying on smiles to cover up the sorrow. Lisa is happy to return to her wonderful Viennese home.

It was hard to believe that the cast comprised undergraduates.  Although it is called Senior Opera Theater, some cast members were in their third year, But they could have fooled us easily!  Tenor Joseph Klebanoff made a fine showing as Cousin Rudi who sang "Seufzergässchen" as welcome comic relief.

Baritone Jonathan Thierer portrayed Colonel Bloch, who annoyed everyone except for the irritable Countess Frida (mezzo-soprano Erika Rush Robinson) whose lovely duet with him "Wer hat die Liebe" melted her icy demeanor.

Tenor Giovanni Pinto portrayed Fu-Li, the Prince's major-domo; the more officious and pretentious he got, the funnier.  The chorus of women were excellent at Lisa's birthday party. Lehár's wonderful waltz tunes permitted some charming choreography by Francis Patrelle.

All of these delights were pulled together by Dona D. Vaughn who directed with a sure hand, which we have come to expect. The work was treated with honesty, respect, and sincerity. No attempt was made to update the dialogue or the appositely stilted delivery.  It came across just as it should. We always prefer retention of the original style.

It was an excellent decision for the dialogue to be spoken in English; the songs were sung in German that was so accurate that we didn't need to read the titles. Kudos to Diction Coach Marianne Barrett.

Maestro Jorge Parodi led the orchestra with his customary relaxed rigor, bringing out every gorgeous tune that Lehár composed. The music flowed forth like honey on a warm day.

Sets were simple. For the General's home, a table and a pair of chairs, some topiary and some chandeliers were enough to suggest bourgeois comfort.  For the Prince's palace, a huge gong and some potted palms sufficed.  Nothing more was needed.

Costumes by Summer Lee Jack were colorful but often ill-fitting and appeared thrown together. They suggested some indeterminate Asian country.

We would wish to have more operettas produced here in New York. They were a valuable bridge between European opera and the American Musical Theater. They are invariable tuneful and always worth a rehearing; this is more than we can say for contemporary opera which we endure and never wish to hear again!

(c) meche kroop

CAVALLI'S DORICLEA

Michael Anderson, Christine Price, Justin Austin (photo by Brian Hatton)

Lyndon England, Hannah Dishman (photo by Brian Hatton)

Juan del Bosco, Caroline Braga (photo by Brian Hatton)

A rewarding and highly entertaining production of Cavalli's La Doriclea  was presented by the Manhattan School of Music Senior Opera Theater.  Baroque opera can be tedious but, in the right hands, it can be a lot of fun.  The hands belong to Dona D. Vaughn and Jorge Parodi.  Ms. Vaughn directed with a sureness born of experience--experience in telling a story and experience in pulling meaningful performances out of the singers, most of whom were seniors with a few graduate students thrown in for good measure.

Maestro Parodi's hands are another thing altogether, and if you could tear your eyes away from the riveting stage action you would be entranced by the balletic moves as he pulled superb performances from his musicians, most of whom were graduate students.  The talented theorboist was guest artist Carlos Cuestas.

This 1645 opera, with libretto by Giovanni Faustini (who collaborated with Francesco Cavalli on nine operas) is one of about a dozen surviving Venetian operas from the first half of the 17th c. The influence of Monteverdi is evident.  It suffered a delay in performance due to censorship. Why?  Probably it had something to do with the gender hijinks.

The heroine Doriclea (Christine Price) in male military garb fights alongside her husband Tigrane, King of Armenia (Michael Anderson). Arsacian King Artabano (Juan del Bosco), whose soldier Surena (Nicholas Smith) has taken her captive, has a sister Eurinda (Caroline Braga), who falls in love with Doriclea (disguised as "Cyrus") and is ready to forsake her fiancé Farnace (Megan Mikailovna Samarin in a pants role).

Adding delightful comic relief are Eurinda's maid Melloe (Hannah Dishman) who, at one point tried to attack someone with a cucumber, and Farnace's page Orindo (Lyndon England) who doesn't have to do much but cross the stage to evoke laughter.  The two have a cute duet together in which Melloe expresses the wish to experience love and Orindo expresses his cynical view of women.

On a more severe note, Sabari (Justin Austin in fine voice) a man who knows that "Cyrus" is really a woman, tries to seduce her.  When rejected he accuses her of adultery as revenge.  Confusing?  Only on paper.  Ms. Vaughn made everything clear onstage.

To complicate matters still further, Act I has a prologue in which character traits are anthropomorphized.  Ambition (Margaret Woolums) is depicted wearing a blindfold.  (Get it?)    Virtue (Sara Hope Ptachik) despairs over losing out to Vice.  (In nearly four centuries, has anything changed?)  Ignorance (Marina Lombardi) disguises herself in Virtue's garments.  In some lovely melismatic singing, Glory (Sheila Houlahan) introduces the story.

Before Act I ends, Venus (Amanda Grafton) rouses her clan of cupids, clad in pink undies with hot pink wigs, with a stirring battle cry and then promises her favors to Mercury (Mark Zhaoming Seah)  whose celestial home is the balcony of the Ades performing space.  At the end of Act II, she has a charming duet with the virile Mars (Cameron Johnson) after threatening to attack his palace with her troop of "Amorini".

We have probably omitted a few characters in this wonderful piece and for this we apologize.  Everyone sang well and acted their parts with gusto.  A few performances were outstanding.  There was a touching duet between Mr. Anderson and Ms. Price at the opening of the opera when she is too wounded to move on and begs him to kill her.  Ms. Price also has a lovely lament at the beginning of Act III.

Ms. Braga made a highly expressive address to the audience about her love for Farnace before meeting "Cyrus" and a marvelous duet with Ms. Samarin when they reconcile at the end of the opera.  We liked the scene at court in which Ms. Braga becomes besotted with "Cyrus" (the disguised Doriclea) and Ms. Dishman becomes the counterbalancing voice of reason, reminding her of her betrothal to Farnace.

The simple set and effective lighting were by Kate Ashton.  There were some jagged mountains in the rear and some clouds overhead and a fine tent for the Arsacian king.  During the garden scene some arches interlaced with flowers sufficed.

Costumes by Summer Lee Jack were apt and well executed.  Gods and goddesses looked very Roman with lots of draping.  Mars looked exactly the way one would imagine and Mercury had a winged helmet. The Arsacians looked vaguely Middle-Eastern with Eurinda and her brother Artabano appearing very royal.

We have no evidence that La Doriclea has been performed since it's opening in Venice but if anyone else had discovered it and performed it we doubt that it could have been done any better.  What a privilege to have seen a work that survived nearly 400 years.  Mankind is still struggling with gender ambiguity, fickle lovers and senseless wars. We don't need modern dress to appreciate the contemporary relevance.

© meche kroop