ORATORI-OH?

Curtain Call at Premiere of Emigré

(Photo by Chris Lee)

 

The project began with a co-commission for an oratorio by The New York Philharmonic and Maestro Long Yu of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Emigré  premiered in Shanghai last November and had its American premiere last night in the Wu Tsai Theater at Lincoln Center. Perhaps an oratorio was requested of composer Aaron Zigman and librettists Mark Campbell and Brock Walsh; but what they got was a music theater piece with one foot in the opera house and the other on Broadway.

We think of an oratorio as a sacred work performed concert style without sets, costumes, or acting. The only sacred moments in Emigré  were the first few when the New York Philharmonic Chorus sang phrases from the Hebrew Kaddish and a Buddhist prayer. That the work is dramatic is all to the good since music theater moves us more than music alone.

For this dramatic success, credit goes to Director Mary Birnbaum who did a fine job of telling the story with nothing more than the strip of stage in front of the massive forces of the New York Philharmonic and a small area in front of the equally massive forces of The New York Philharmonic Chorus on the level above, plus the stairways connecting the two.

The story is well worth telling. In two visits to The People's Republic of China, we never learned that Shanghai played host to Jewish refugees fleeing The Holocaust. That China suffered a holocaust of their own at the hands of the Japanese during WW II was, however, known to us from films such as Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and history books describing the Rape of Nanking.

For us there is great appeal in a work of art that meets our "Three E Requirements". We want to be entertained, educated, and enlightened. Emigré hit the mark. However, our preference would be to see it in a medium-sized opera house in which the excellent opera singers could be heard unamplified, with a small orchestra. The piece could also work on Broadway although we detest amplification.

However, that was not what was intended by the commission; it is just our preference. We are well acquainted with some of the singers, somewhat familiar with the others; all deserve to be heard better which is impossible with orchestral and choral forces of such magnitude.

The story concerns two brothers fleeing Germany for Shanghai after Kristallnacht, understandably devastated by leaving their parents behind. Otto (tenor Matthew White) is religious and bonds with a rabbi (bass-baritone Andrew Dwan) whose daughter Tovah (soprano Diana Newman) welcomes him and sings the lovely "In a Woman's Hands".

Josef (tenor Arnold Livingston Geis) is a young doctor who wanders into a Chinese pharmaceutical shop, eager to learn about Chinese medicine. He experiences an instant and mutual attraction with the doctor's daughter Lina Song (soprano Meigui Zhang). Her father (bass-baritone Shenyang) is rejecting but older sister Li  (mezzo-soprano Huiling Zhu) is more sympathetic.

The couple have a lovely courtship in the Yu Garden and an equally lovely song "In a Perfect World". All is well until Shanghai isolates the Jews in a ghetto and, since the couple defied their family's wishes and became man and wife, there is nowhere for them to go.

Here we have a situation just made for opera--political issues driven home and made personal by romantic consequences. Just think of all the situations in the world today in which love is made difficult or impossible by barriers of one sort or another.  Consider the plight of displaced people with nowhere to go.  Think of the heavy cost of cultural insularism and fear of "the other". This work touched so many bases for us and probably had many audience members talking about it afterward.

As far as the music is concerned, there is plenty of variation of styles--what one might call eclecticism. There was nothing excruciatingly "post-modern" about it and we found it accessible. Composer Aaron Zigman has written scores for film and television and has orchestrated for jazz and popular singers.

The libretto by Mark Campbell, whilst not quite as wonderful as the one he wrote for The ( R ) evolution of Steve Jobs,  has avoided the trap of long prosy lines but in keeping the phrases short and rhyming, the effect verged on doggerel at times.  The lyrics contributed by songwriter Brock Walsh were more than usually accessible.

Maestro Long Yu commanded the aforementioned "massive forces" with aplomb and Chorus Master Malcolm J. Merriweather ensured that every word was comprehensible. We consider it rather a miracle to have achieved this degree of clarity  with such a huge chorus.

Projections by Joshua Higgason were notable for being apropos and non- intrusive. There were stills and film clips in black and white of street scenes and battle scenes from China during WW II, as well as colorful Chinese symbols. Titles were projected overhead but rarely needed since everyone's diction was clear.

Our only disappointment was that these excellent singers were not given the opportunity to show their superlative voices. Audience members who had never heard them on the opera stage missed what we cherish in our memories of prior performances.

We walked home deep in thought about all the issues brought up by the work. We had a couple hours of entertainment and quite a bit of education and enlightenment. We enjoy doing the work of seeing something historical and comparing it with what is going on in the world today. So many directors these days deprive us of that participation.

© meche kroop 

MANNING THE CANON

Efraín Solis, Matt Boehler, Daniel McGrew, and Scott Murphree

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Stonewall Riots, the wildly entertaining concert Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life was revived ten years after its debut at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center. Just as we feel a little bit Irish on St. Paddy's Day, and a little bit Italian on Columbus Day, we feel a little bit "queer" this month.

It surely wasn't necessary to be a member of the tribe to appreciate the program. In the eloquent words of Steven Blier, taken from his copious and fascinating program notes, it is "a rainbow-colored celebration of wit, beauty, emotion, and forthright honesty". The concert is a co-production of Mr. Blier, Artistic Director of New York Festival of Song, and Jesse Blumberg, Artistic Director of Five Boroughs Music Festival--both champions in the world of song.

And what songs we heard! Sets of well-curated songs about gay life were interspersed with songs by gay composers. The songs were universal in appeal; we all have a wide palette of feelings about love and sex, longing and disappointment, closeness and distance. 

Our favorites ranged the gamut, from hilarious cabaret songs to serious 19th c. compositions. Let us describe a few. As readers may have predicted, for our ears Schubert always comes out on top. The four members of the cast joined in exquisite harmony for Schubert's "Der Gondelfahrer", a setting of text by Johann Mayrhofer with whom the composer shared a bed for a couple of years. The lyrics scan and rhyme just the way we like and the melody took its cue from the text. 

Walking on the wilder side, we loved the cabaret song "An Admission" by Joseph Thalken with funny and tender lyrics by Mark Campbell whose libretto for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs enchanted us so at Santa Fe Opera. The subject was the disappointment felt when one's prospective bedmate undresses and appears in all his naked inglorious glory. We are quite sure that everyone could relate to that one! Tenor Scott Murphree got all the feelings across, including the resolution at the end.

Drag offers so many opportunities for humor and John Wallowitch's cabaret song "Bruce" gave bass Matt Boehler an opportunity to use his loose-limbed frame, mobile face, and deeply resonant voice to portray a man criticizing Bruce's over-the-top style of dressing. The rhymes were beyond clever and Mr. Boehler did a swell job of getting the song across.

On the serious end of the spectrum, baritone Efraín Solis imbued Manuel de Falla's "Polo" with the requisite pain and just enough Latin sabor. Mr.Blier's insistent piano added to the drama.

There are songs that were written about a man and a woman that can be readily co-opted and placed firmly in the gay corner. Perhaps at the top of the list is Cy Coleman's "Tennis Duet" from City of Angels, for which David Zippel wrote the incredibly clever lyrics, filled with double entendres. Tenors David McGrew and Mr. Murphree made a marvelously flirtatious couple, sparring wittily with tennis rackets and provocative dialogue.

The program ended with Cole Porter's "You're the Top" in which the repetitive phrase "Baby, I'm the bottom you're the top" took on new meaning and was all the funnier for being played mostly straight by the ensemble. Porter's rhymes are hilarious and it was worthwhile to search out the lyrics to catch a few words and references we missed. 

The encore was sensational--"My Guy", written by Smokey Robinson (of The Miracles). In true Motown fashion, there was plenty of extravagant synchronized gesture and terrific harmonies.

We are sure that every person in that room had their own favorites. Those were ours. We were there when the show had its debut at the same LGBT Community Center ten years ago and were happy to enjoy its warmth and wit once again. Indeed it remains a source of PRIDE for its creators and its cast.

(c) meche kroop

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

A BIG BITE OF THE APPLE

Ed Parks as Steve Jobs with Santa Fe Opera Chorus

How ironic!  We are sitting here writing about The R(evolution) of Steve Jobs which we saw last night at the Santa Fe Opera; and we are writing on our MacBook because our iMac is home in New York City. Our iPhone is on the table charging even as we write. Our iPad is languishing in our carry-on bag, waiting to entertain us on our trip home. How can one take the measure of a man who has changed our lives so significantly that we cannot imagine surviving without our devices!

Perhaps all we can do to honor such a sea-change is to write about it, play about it, and sing about it. What has been accomplished by the production team for this opera merits all the laudatory words that have been written. What shall we add to the accolades?

Regular readers of this blog will recall how often we denigrate contemporary compositions with their tuneless and abstract music, their wordy unpoetic libretti, and stories that do not lend themselves to musical treatment. None of that is true here. Instead of a story about politics we have a portrait of a fascinatingly inconsistent and puzzling genius who made technology musical, an instrument anyone can play.

In place of sounds masquerading as music, we have composer Mason Bates' eclectic score that seamlessly melds of-the-moment electronics with traditional orchestral music in a manner that honors both genres. Even acoustic guitar, so much a part of Steve Jobs' world, puts in an appearance.

Mark Campbell's libretto is punchy like the English language with short rhythmic phrases, and reminds one of the effective work done for Broadway musicals. It is such an acoustic pleasure to hear words and music acting in harmony, instead of at cross purposes.

In baritone Ed Parks, the opera has found the perfect embodiment of the complicated hero. Every shading of mood was conveyed and we wound up feeling sympathy for this difficult character--a genius troubled by perfectionism, obsessionality, emotional isolation, and narcissism.

As his spiritual guide Kobun, bass Wei Wu created a marvelous character filled with pithy advice delivered with humor. Mr. Mason gave him a splendid aria that would make a superb audition piece for the bass fach. As performed by Mr. Wu, we could understand how he was able to get through to the stubborn Jobs.

The other person who was able to get through to him was his wife Laurene, beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. Her lengthy eulogy at the end of the opera was filled with insight and sung to some of Mr. Mason's most gorgeous music.

Garret Sorenson employed his tenor most effectively in the role of Jobs' early partner Steve Wozniak. The scene in which they end their partnership was emotionally devastating, as were the two scenes in which Jobs abandons his girlfriend Chrisann Brennan and denies fathering their chid. Apprentice Singer Jessica E. Jones conveyed all the pain and shock of rejection and did so with fine vocal technique.

Apprentice Singer Mariya Kaganskaya used her fine mezzo instrument in the role of a teacher at Reed College, explaining the significance of the "enso", a calligraphic character that inspired Jobs toward simplicity. For us, it seemed to reflect the concept of coming full circle as exemplified by the opera beginning and ending with a scene from Jobs' childhood, a scene in which his father (former Apprentice baritone Kelly Markgraf) initiates the young Jobs (Joshua Sorenson) into the world of making things.

Mr. Mason's score (conducted by Maestro Michael Christie) is eclectic and eminently listenable. Each character was endowed with his/her own sound world. There were passages of minimalism reminiscent of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, cheek by jowl with lush and lavishly orchestrated passages; so thoroughly integrated were the various elements that nothing seemed out of place. Acoustic guitar, electronic sounds, and instruments of the Far East were woven in and out at appropriate places.

In what Wagner might have called a gesamtkunstwerk, the sets and costumes were all of a piece with the music and libretto. Victoria "Vita" Tzykun filled the stage with tall rectangular pillars that were moved around to create various effects, with the help of projections by 59 Productions. Some scenes seemed to take place inside a computer with projections of a mother board. Others showed the home page of the iPhone.

We loved the scene in which he and Chrisann are dropping acid in an apple orchard (the only reference to "apple" in the opera). Jobs hears the music inherent in nature and is inspired by the idea that a computer can be like an instrument that one plays. This thought served to justify the use of computer sounds in Mason's music and to justify writing music about someone who appears more technological than artistic.  We left with the idea that there is artistry everywhere and that Ms. Tzykun set design showed the artistic side of technology just as Jobs' made technology artistic--witness the fact that we have never been able to discard our first computer--a 1999 "clamshell", so simple and elegant that it overcame our Luddite tendencies.

Director Kevin Newbury kept the action moving along, with the excellent Apprentice Singers in charge of moving the sets around, in addition to performing in such exemplary fashion as the chorus, under the direction of Susanne Sheston.

Paul Carey's costumes were appropriate to time and place. Responsible for Sound Design were Rick Jacobsohn and Brian Loach. What this means in practice is that the voices were subtly amplified; we say "subtly" because the amplification was barely noticeable and the balance between singers and instrumentalists was preserved.

(c) meche kroop

STEVE JOBS PREVIEW

Kevin Newbury, Mark Campbell, and Mason Bates

This summer, Santa Fe Opera will present the premiere of a new opera--The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.  We have already lined up tickets. This is surprising given our disappointment in contemporary opera. But this one seems quite different and we are bursting with enthusiasm. The work appears to be taking opera to an entirely new level, suited to the 21st c.

Last night at the Guggenheim Museum we attended a Works and Process in which we heard about the opera from Director Kevin Newbury, librettist Mark Campbell, and composer Mason Bates. We completely grasped their objectives. So many operas are about revolutions.  So many operas are about seminal figures. In this case we have a seminal figure who created a revolution--a cultural revolution that has altered our society and the way we interact.

We have been reflecting upon the changes he wrought upon our culture--the way we get information, the way we shop, the way we interact with other people, even the way we find mates; nothing will ever be the same. We may or may not like these changes but if we do not adjust to them, we are left out of society.

What a stimulating topic for an opera! Mr. Jobs was a complex figure, starting out as a counter-culture hippie wanting to bring down big business--and ended up as a mogul. He was said to be a difficult man and a perfectionist. The opera will humanize this iconic figure. It focuses on five main characters--Mr. Jobs, his creative partner Steve "Woz" Wozniak, his wife Laurene, his spiritual advisor Kobun Chino Otagawa, and his girlfriend Chrisann. Composer Mason Bates has given each a leitmotiv.

Mr. Bates is a highly regarded and celebrated composer and this is his first "produced" opera. The music is playful and incorporates electronics, guitar, and other unusual elements to tell an emotional story. Mark Campbell's libretto is theatrical and tells the story in a non-linear way, humanizing this larger-than-life figure who thought of the computer as "an instrument to be played".  Most of us forget or never knew how inaccessible computers were before Jobs. We recall our first Apple product--a Blackberry which we still have! We would never have gotten a computer, but the Blackberry was so--friendly!

We got a pretty good glimpse of what the opera will look and sound like. Several scenes were presented for our enjoyment. The casting was flawless. Baritone Edward Parks, an artist we have long admired, was chosen for the lead because of his fine dramatic instincts and because of his mellow voice which one can listen to all night long (although the opera is not all that long and will be performed without intermission).

We especially loved the scenes in which Otogawa confronts Jobs. The role is brilliantly performed by Gerda Lissner Award winning bass Wei Wu from the Washington National Opera Young Artists Program. Both Mr. Parks and Mr. Wu will perform these roles in Santa Fe. The music for these scenes was otherworldly, employing the guitar (played by James Moore) and electronic music produced by Mr. Bates himself. There were some portentous chords on the piano, produced by Maestro Robert Tweten, who conducted.

There was also a wonderful scene in the garage of Jobs' home in Los Altos when Jobs and "Woz" were figuring out how to make the computer accessible and another one three years earlier when they figured out how to scam the telephone company and "Woz" pretended to be Kissinger calling the Vatican to cancel a meeting with the Pope. Tenor Garrett Sorenson made a marvelously funny "Woz" and sang the role with great gusto and sound.

In the role of Laurene, Jobs' wife, we heard Sarah Coit, one of the Santa Fe Apprentices, who floated and held a high note with a dazzling diminuendo. This summer the role will be taken by the splendid Sasha Cooke.

SFO apprentice Jessica Jones sang the role of the girlfriend with whom he dropped acid in the 70's. We enjoyed her performance and we don't know who will be singing that role in Santa Fe. 

Slides were projected illustrating the high-tech sets and their Japanese influence. There will be complex video projections that will move with the scenery.

With such a gifted production team and such superb artists onstage, this should be a special night in Santa Fe. The work will have its world premiere on Juy 22nd and there will be only six performances.

We strongly recommend that you get your tickets ASAP. The topicality, the production, and the music should make it a sell-out.  And Santa Fe is fantastic in the summer.

(c) meche kroop

AS ONE

Kelly Markgraf and Sasha Cooke (photo by Ken Howard)

What a unique and brave subject for an opera--the struggle of a transgendered individual for self-acceptance.  The concept came to composer Laura Kaminsky who found willing associates Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed to co-write the libretto.  The work certainly held our interest from start to finish--words such as TRANScendent and TRANSformation kept popping into our brain.

In a casting coup, married couple Sasha Cooke and Kelly Markgraf shared the role of the protagonist--a likable and sensitive individual born male but feeling very much like a woman. Forty years ago such individuals were thought of as having a mental disorder and the surgeons who dared to perform sex-reassignment surgery were attacked by their medical brethren. Nowadays, the condition is readily treated by hormonal manipulation and surgery.

One might think that the story of one such individual would be difficult to relate to; on the contrary, most people are in touch with parts of themselves that they feel are unacceptable and therefore repressed and denied.  Thus, we may feel a kinship, compassion and understanding.  If we are open to it, we may even feel better integrated ourselves by bearing witness to this story.

Mr. Markgraf performed the role of Hannah "before".  Although his physique and forceful baritone are completely masculine, his skillful interpretation allowed us to witness the woman within.  Ms. Cooke's gleaming mezzo and soft appearance was tinged at appropriate moments with the called-for masculine quality as she portrayed Hannah "after".  The roles could not have been better acted or sung.

A remarkable feature of the work is the way the various artists were called upon to cross artistic boundaries.  At times, the singers were called upon to dance and used their entire bodies to express their emotions.  The superb conductor Steven Osgood was called upon once to lay down his baton and assume the role of a schoolteacher.  (He exhibited a fine commanding voice.) The members of the Fry Street Quartet (violinists Robert Waters and Rebecca McFaul, violist Bradley Ottesen and cellist Anne Francis Bayless) not only played Ms. Kaminsky's music with consummate artistry but also participated in the drama just a bit.

One must give ample credit to Stage Director Ken Cazan who created the magic of having us see in our mind's eye what was not onstage. Although there were videos projected onto four asymmetrical screens, we found them distracting and preferred to use our imagination under Mr. Cazan's meaningful direction.  Although there were titles projected, they were unnecessary since the pair of singers exercised exemplary diction.

Since this was called a chamber opera, let us consider Ms. Kaminsky's music.  Her writing for the string quartet was nothing short of thrilling with interesting motives operating on a semi-conscious level.   There was ample melody and attractive harmonies.  There was nothing disagreeable to the ear, save for the scene when Hannah escapes a man with evil intentions.  There were snippets of Grieg when Hannah retreats to Norway.  The music created a portrait of a sensitive protagonist, someone we would want to get to know, someone we could care about.

We cannot express such enthusiasm for her writing for the voice. We understand that the librettists wanted the writing to be direct and colloquial, a task at which they succeeded admirably.  But, and this is a big but, such direct lines in English do not lend themselves to melody.  One could hear the potential beauty of the vocal lines only during short periods of melismatic singing when there was no dialogue to interfere.  And there were some thrilling moments when Ms. Cooke and Mr. Markgraf sang in gorgeous harmony (symbolic!) and in unison (even more symbolic!).

This problem is not unique to Ms. Kaminsky.  Most contemporary operas in English seem like plays with music rather than operas in the sense that one usually thinks of as opera.

Scenic and lighting design by David Martin Jacques was spare. Costume design by Sara Jean Tosetti consisted of jeans for both Hannahs and bare feet all around.

The work was commissioned and developed by American Opera Projects and will have two more performances on Saturday and Sunday at BAM Fisher.  If you are fortunate enough to get a ticket, don't be surprised if you walk out TRANSformed.

(c) meche kroop