THE ARIANNA PROJECT

We have left the recital hall and are sitting in an underground nightclub on Bleeker St. listening to Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, K. 397, stirringly played by Sylvia Berry on a beautiful old fortepiano.  What are we doing here, surrounded by people eating and drinking?  Three lovely women enter single file in gowns and jewelry inspired by Ancient Greece, looking very much like a frieze in bas-relief.  A conch shell is blown and the three women hold seashells up to their ears to listen to...the sea? the weeping of a broken heart?  the panic of abandonment?

Thus begins Musica Nuova's presentation of The Arianna Project, a most original musical exploration of the plight of Ariadne, abandoned on the isle of Naxos by Theseus who promised to wed her in exchange for her help in outwitting the Minotaur.  The three lovely women all play the part of Arianna, each one in turn giving voice to the hapless woman, as written by three different composers.

First we were transported back to the early 17th c. by Il Lamento d'Arianna, the sole remaining fragment of Claudio Monteverdi's second opera, sung by soprano Maeve Högland.  Next we heard mezzo-soprano Amanda Keil, Artistic Director of Musica Nuova, who brought us forward to the late 18th c. in Franz Joseph Haydn's cantata Arianna à Naxos.  

Emotionally wrung out by then, we were pleased to recover by listening to Arcangelo Corelli's Sonata da camera in c minor, op.4 no. 11 before  soprano Marcy Richardson tore into Alessandro Scarlatti's L'Arianna which featured an aria of impressive rage.  All three singers were dramatically and vocally fine but we were most impressed by Ms. Richardson's immersion in the material.

Stage Director Beth Greenberg managed to make this tired old story of betrayal and abandonment come to life in a way relevant to present times--all, thankfully, without leather trench coats and cell phones.  We doubt there was a woman in the room who did not measure some of her disappointing romantic experiences against the plight of Arianna's.  Instead of surtitles, there was a large book on stage with very concise modernized translations of the story.  As the pages were turned, one heard titters in the audience.  We call them pangs of recognition.

Sylvia Berry performed on the harpsichord as effectively as on the fortepiano.  Grant Herreid played the theorbo; Motomi Igarashi made some interesting sounds on the viola da gamba and lirone; Vita Wallace and Abigail Karr were the violinists.

Musica Nuova has a mission of providing a new look at early music and they succeeded admirably in both style and substance.  The performance ended in less than 90 minutes and we played in our head an aria from Ariadne auf Naxos.  But that wouldn't have fit in with early music!

(c) meche kroop

MONDAY NIGHT DOUBLE HEADER

 
Only in New York could you go out on a Monday night and witness two extraordinary musical events.  In the first, Opera Feroce presented a pasticcio, an operatic model popular in the baroque period when singers often interpolated their favorite arias into operas by other composers.  Since 2012 began we twice saw "The Enchanted Island", another pasticcio,  at the Met and enjoyed ourselves to the limit.  The latter was based on a couple of Shakespeare plays whereas last night's Amor and Psyche was based on the 2nd c. novel Metamorphosis by Apuleius.

The story is that of the beautiful Psyche who is envied by the goddess Venus.  Cupid gets pricked by his own dart and falls in love with her.  Venus torments Psyche with impossible tasks.  With boundless creativity, the members of Opera Feroce have filled in the story with arias by Handel, Dowland, Porpora, Mancini, Lotti, Stradella, Campion, Durante, Coprario, Soresina, Savatelli, and, not to neglect the Germans, Adam  and Johann Philipp Krieger.

This was an original entertainment that delighted the audience, most of whom seemed to be natives of the Upper West Side.  Amor was well sung and charmingly acted by mezzo Hayden DeWitt who was also responsible for the arch program notes.  Soprano Beth Anne Hatton made a charming and equally well sung Psyche.  Their duet "Dormono l'aure estive" was beautifully moving. The other roles were all handled by countertenor Alan Dornak whose extravagant mugging seemed too campy by half.  He sounded best in his more mournful duet with Psyche, Handel's "Son nato a lagrimar".

Kelly Savage at the harpsichord was joined by baroque violinist Vita Wallace and Motomi Igarashi who played the viola da gamba.  The trio played superbly.

Being a group effort, no one person has taken credit for the concept, direction or musical research--all of which deserve credit.  The black baroque costumes were particularly a propos.

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As if any more entertainment were necessary we made it to Steven Blier's event "Sing for Your Supper" at Henry's Restaurant.  The New York Festival of Song never fails to delight but tonight was more delightful than ever as nine of our favorite singers from Juilliard presented "Invitation to the Dance".  As usual, newlywed Steven Blier excelled at his duties as host, arranger and accompanist  Andrew Stenvall played some gentle percussion. Stepping out of their roles as opera and lieder singers, the students easily made the transition to "popular" song, without any of the pretentiousness usually heard when opera stars do crossover material.  Notably, microphones were not necessary and the audience was blissfully quiet and attentive.  Not only was the singing first rate but these guys and gals know how to get a song across.  To ice the cupcake, they danced!  The education at Juilliard never ceases to amaze me.

Heard with great joy were Elizabeth Sutphen, Karen Vuong, Rachael Wilson and Simone Easthope on the distaff side; the men were Kyle Bielfield, Leo Radosavlijevic, Miles Mykkanen, Nathan Haller and Tobias Greenhalgh.  So uplifted were we that we virtually floated home in the faint drizzle.

(c) meche kroop