LARGER THAN LIFE

Ken Noda, Will Liverman, and Michelle Bradley at the Morgan Library

Soprano Michelle Bradley and baritone Will Liverman are two artists whose careers we have been following for some time and whose performances we have been reviewing. Ms. Bradley has dazzled us with her sizable voice heard through the Lindemann program and Mr. Liverman has been on our radar screen since he won an award from Opera Index. Mr. Noda has been one of our favorite collaborative pianists for many years.

What a pleasure to have all three onstage at the same time yesterday at the George London Foundation recital series, held at the Morgan Library. The recital hall there has very lively acoustics which have been helpful to smallish voices but these acoustics kind of overwhelmed us when applied to such large voices, voices which easily fill the farthest reaches of The Metropolitan Opera House.

We heard a varied program of opera and art songs, with a generous helping of Christmas music as encore pieces. Given the size of the voices we preferred the operatic arias to the art songs. Ms. Bradley's voice is perfect for Wagner, Verdi, and Strauss. We greatly enjoyed "Es gibt ein Reich" from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos which we just reviewed Friday night in an evening of scenes at Manhattan School of Music.

Ms. Bradley's upper register has power and brilliance but the depth in her lower register betrays her mezzo-soprano roots. She was every inch an abandoned princess waiting for Death. Later in the program Strauss' Ständchen was delivered with delicacy and romance, a nice contrast.

We adore Verdi's La Forza del Destino and wish it would be produced more often. Still, we grab any chance we get to hear Leonora's "Pace, pace, mio Dio", even though we know that poor Leonora will never get the peace she longs for. Ms. Bradley performed magnificently in this aria and Mo. Noda's piano limned the forceful theme with urgency.

We liked all of the above far more than Barber's Hermit Songs which we have heard a bit too often this year. Still, every singer gives her own interpretation and we liked the contrast between the joyful "The Heavenly Banquet" and the sorrowful "The Crucifixion". "The Desire for Hermitage" was quietly moving.

Mr. Liverman was at his best in "Heiterkeit und Fröhlichkeit" from Albert Lortzing's 1842 comic opera Der Wildschütz. We were so taken with Mr. Liverman's performance that we put Lortzing's opera on our "must see" list. We believe that this joyful song is sung by the Count.

Another favorite was "Grigory's Aria" from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, an 1899 tragedy in which Grigory tries every trick in the book to win Marfa who is in love with another man but also chosen by the tsar as his bride.  You just know this will not end well. Our Russian speaking companion pronounced Mr. Liverman's Russian to be excellent. We are grateful to be introduced to some wonderful music, so well sung by Mr. Liverman, and hope someday to see this potboiler onstage!

In contrast, the Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire by Francis Poulenc seemed downright lighthearted with surreal poetry and plenty of irony in both voice and piano.

We are not crazy about Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel which seem to be a favorite of baritones. We found ourself listening more to Mo. Noda's piano which produced some amazing ripples in "Let Beauty Awake" and some gorgeously modulated arpeggi in the lively "The Roadside Fire".

This banquet of music was served with a seasonal dessert. Mr. Liverman accompanied himself on the piano with a jazzy arrangement of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" which incorporated riffs from other carols. Ms. Bradley's encore was a gospel arrangement of The Lord's Prayer.  

The final encore was sung a capella. Both singers took turns singing verses of "Silent Night" with a gospel inflection. The third verse was sung in glorious harmony with both artists joining voices. Several audience members were overheard commenting that the encores were their favorite part of the program.

(c) meche kroop

THE COCK HAS CROWED

Kevin Burdette, Tim Mix, and Meredith Arwady in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel

We well recall the moment that we fell in love with classical music.  Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade was playing on the radio and we were hooked. What a thrill for us to have seen his final opera The Golden Cockerel twice within three months. Last night we enjoyed the production by Santa Fe Opera (a co-production with The Dallas Opera) and felt the same delight in the composer's exotic melodic line and lush orchestration, so sensitively realized by Maestro Emmanuel Villaume.

On a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in Russia, the Tsar's forces massacred some peaceful protestors who were unhappy about their living conditions but also about the ill-fated Russo-Japanese War.  The composer Rimsky-Korsakov supported the protestors and thereby lost his job as head of the conservatory. Perhaps in protest he chose to set The Golden Cockerel as a satire of autocracy and Russian imperialism. This would be his last opera; he completed it in 1907 but it was banned by the Palace. It premiered 2 years later but the master had already died.

The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky who based it upon an invented fairytale by Alexander Pushkin who, in turn, based his work on some stories by our very own Washington Irving!  How about that! Real fairytales are folktales handed down over centuries so we feel confident in calling this one invented.

King Dodon's astrologer presents him with a golden bird who will warn him of political danger and gets promised whatever he wants in return. War is declared whilst Dodon lazes about at home, relying on the bird's advice. Dodon's sons kill each other on the battlefield and Dodon himself must go to battle.. In the kingdom of Shemakh he meets the seductive Queen Shemakha who extracts a promise of marriage and returns home with him. The astrologer claims his reward--the Queen.  He will accept no less. Dodon kills him. The Golden Cockerel kills Dodon.

As the bumbling King Dodon, we heard baritone Tim Mix whose characterization was as on the mark as his singing. Sporting a red "fat suit" and curled up on a huge throne, he made quite an impression on us. But an even greater impression was made when he mounted a large wooden horse, facing backward!

As the exotic temptress from The East--the Queen of Shamakha--soprano Venera Gimadieva tickled our ears with both long lyrical lines of pure sound and volleys of wickedly challenging ornamentation which she made appear effortless. Fortunately, she also possesses physical beauty sufficient for the part, since she was obliged to perform a serious strip tease to ensnare the dense Dodon.

Contralto Meredith Arwady has a sensational instrument of great depth. She created a marvelous version of Amelfa, Dodon's housekeeper/caretaker and brought a great deal of humor to her portrayal. The scene in which she cradles him on his huge throne was unforgettable.

The General of bass Kevin Burdette was perfectly sung and acted. If King Dodon had listened to his advice the entire tale might have ended differently.

The title role was sung by a very special member of the Apprentice Program.  Soprano Kasia Borowiec has been on our radar since her student days at Manhattan School of Music and has always impressed us.  What a joy to witness her artistic growth in last night's dazzling performance. Unfortunately, in this production, she sings from offstage, but we did have the opportunity to attest to her stage presence in Sunday night's Apprentice Scenes.

Several more apprentices delivered auspicious performances.  We heard tenor Richard Smagur as Prince Guidon and baritone Jorge Espino as Prince Afron. The two rivalrous siblings wind up killing each other on the battlefield.

Tenor Adam Bonanni made a fine showing as the First Boyar, whilst bass Simon Dyer did so as the Second Boyar. As expected, the chorus, under the astute direction of Susanne Sheston, performed magnificently.

Barry Banks utilized his very high tenor as The Astrologer, a mysterious character who may or may not be "real".

Director Paul Curran had some truly excellent ideas although we take exception to two choices that seemed to violate the intent of the concept. When the Queen of Shemakha capriciously demands the (offstage) beheading of The General, it seemed tasteless to us to have paraded the severed head around the stage.  Just plain "EWWW".

Secondly, there was no justification for King Dodon to appear in a contemporary suit with a red tie in the closing scene. Similarly, the Queen of Shamakha had exchanged her finery for a white dress and sunglasses. We expect that a large percentage of members of the audience, presented with an autocratic ruler who is an inept politician, might have been considering the present political situation in the United States. But that's the kind of association that should be made in one's thoughts, not concretized onstage.

But we loved the scene in which the Queen is tryig to get the flat-footed Dodon to sing and dance!

The fantastic nature of the tale was realized by the fantastic nature of the sets and costumes by Gary McCann. King Dodon loafed about in red pajamas but went to battle in stylized armor, and courted in magnificent robes. The Queen of Shamakha wore a fantastic headdress and a slinky turquoise gown which she shed in pieces. Amelfa's costume was a wild exaggeration of peasant attire and grotesque make-up.

The other costumes were wildly colorful and fantastically exaggerated with tall black fur hats on the men. The handmaidens of The Queen were dressed in long white gowns and bore huge feathered fans with which they surrounded the Queen as she changed costumes, an impressive visual spectacle.

The set resembled a skateboarding half-pipe, all curves upon which were projected animations of the Golden Cockerel, strange astrological symbols, and line-drawings of the creatures of Dodon's dreams. Driscoll Otto was responsible for this surge of imaginative creativity.

Eye candy and ear candy joined to create an evening in which entertainment was wed to high artistic values.

(c) meche kroop

COCK-A-DOODLE-DO

The Golden Cockerel presented by New Opera NYC (photo by Steven Pisano)

We could scarcely believe our eyes and ears last night at the Sheen Center, where New Opera NYC produced an opera that was new to us and presented it in such a fantastic (and we do mean "fantastic") manner that we were completely transfixed. What eye candy!  What ear candy! And also, dare we say, stimulus to the brain, as we consider the tale of a pompous bumbling leader who makes a pre-emptive strike on another country, following some bad advice! How resonant!

On a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in Russia, the Tsar's forces massacred some peaceful protestors who were unhappy about their living conditions but also about the ill-fated Russo-Japanese War.  The composer Rimsky-Korsakov supported the protestors and thereby lost his job as head of the conservatory. Perhaps in protest he chose to set The Golden Cockerel as a satire of autocracy and Russian imperialism. This would be his last opera; he completed it in 1907 but it was banned by the Palace. It premiered 2 years later but the master had already died.

The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky who based it upon an invented fairytale by Alexander Pushkin who, in turn, based his work on some stories by our very own Washington Irving!  How about that! Real fairytales are folktales handed down over centuries so we feel confident in calling this one invented.

King Dodon's astrologer presents him with a golden bird who will warn him of political danger and gets promised whatever he wants in return. War is declared whilst Dodon lazes about at home, relying on the bird's advice. Dodon's sons kill each other on the battlefield and Dodon himself must go. In the kingdom of Shemakh he meets the seductive Tsaritsa  Shemakha who extracts a promise of marriage and returns home with him. The astrologer claims his reward--the Tsaritsa.  He will accept no less. Dodon kills him. The Golden Cockerel kills Dodon.

Once the thrill of the production subsides, we are left wondering whether this was all a plot of the Astrologer and the Tsaritsa to take over Dodon's kingdom. But our thoughts return to the sensuality of Rimsky-Korsakov's melodies and the lusciousness of his orchestration, so magnificently played by a full orchestra under the baton of Maestro J. David Jackson. We recall that it was Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade that captivated us in our childhood, leading to our lifelong interest in classical music. Particularly memorable was the harp of Ata Svetlov, the percussion of Chui Ling Tan, and the flute section. The Asian mode lent a special exotic thrill.

The singing was exemplary. Starring as Dodon was the famed Russian bass Mikhail Svetlov who impressed us on the opera stage far more than he did singing lieder on a prior occasion. The Tsaritsa Shemakha was performed by Julia Lima; the strength of her voice was overlaid with accuracy in the fioritura and accompanied by a very sexy body which added to the believability of her seductive dance. (Think Salome!)

As The Golden Cockerel, soprano Ksenia Antonova's performance left nothing to be desired. In the tenor altino role of The Astrologer, John Villemaire's reedy tone was just right. Baritone Antonio Watts made a fine and colorful Prince Aphron with tenor Dmitry Gishpling-Chernov as his brother Prince Gvidon, equally well performed. 

Bass Gennadiy Visotsky shone as General Polkan and wore his furs well. As the Housekeeper Amelfa, Ksenia Berestovskaya had a fine low mezzo just right for the role, and a spunky stage presence.

We might add that the chorus was superb, led by Chorus Master Alexandre Tchaplinskiy.  And who doesn't love a Russian chorus!

The production was by Igor Konyukhov who has established himself on the opera scene in a short period of time. We don't often meet nuclear physicists who go on to get an MFA but we can definitely relate to finding the arts more compelling than science. This polymath of a man was responsible for both direction and choreography--both superb.

The entire production team brought visual splendor to all this aural delight. The lavish set design was by Zachary Crane and was lit by Greg Mitchell. Special credit goes to Oksana Ivashkevych whose LED Technology was brilliant.

The eye-popping costumes were by Olga Maslova who seemed to combine Russian folk themes with Star Wars and Hair and several other influences. We were reminded of Heartbeat Opera's Mozart in Space last Halloween. We were constantly astonished by the originality which is difficult to describe. We refer readers to the carousel of photos on our FB page.

Separate credit must be given to Giaconda for the headpiece of the titular character which was right on point and totally complementary to the costume. Marina Konyukhova and Elizabeth Tripp were responsible for the outstanding Make-up.

We have fallen in love with this opera and will see it again in August in Santa Fe.  It will be interesting to see what a different production team will do with it but we don't think that anything could surpass this production.

There will be four more performances and if you are lucky enough to snag tickets we think you will also fall in love with this extravagant over-the-top production This is just one event in the two-month-long New York OperaFest. We are happily overdosing.

(c) meche kroop

ALEX MOVES ON

Daniel Fung and Alexandra Razskazoff at Juilliard

Spring is a bittersweet season for us.  The singers we have been enjoying all year are graduating and giving their final recitals. Many of them take off for distant shores and we never know when we will hear them again. Fortunately, we will have more opportunities to hear the splendid soprano Alexandra Razskazoff who will be awarded her MM degree from Juilliard--first in the upcoming Zauberflöte at Juilliard and then in August in Santa Fe, where she has been invited back as a Second Year Apprentice.

On the opera stage, Ms. Razskazoff is distinguished by her warm generous soprano and excellent acting. How well we remember her performance as the Countess in Nozze di Figaro! She made a fine Eva in Die Meistersinger.  In recital, she is distinguished by a relaxed and confident stage presence and the ability to honor the text in a meaningful manner.

Last night's recital was a challenging one and a rewarding one; she opened by welcoming her audience, describing her program, and graciously thanking her teacher, Robert C. White, Jr., and her most able collaborative pianist Daniel Fung.

Predictably, our favorite part of the evening was the all-too-short set of Rossini songs. We imagined we were at a salon, chez des amis, back in the 19th c.  A glamorous diva has been invited to entertain us guests with "La Promessa" and "L'invito". We do so love to be transported and indeed we were. The songs are pure delight with typical Rossini melodies and they were charmingly sung.

We also loved the Russian songs. Those of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov are not often heard and we love the idea that his "Nimfa" is different from the German "Lorelei" immortalized in Franz Liszt's song. This one does not lure sailors to their death! His "The lark sings louder" is a paean to Spring. This joyful song was followed by Sergei Rachmaninoff's  anxious "I wait for thee!" in which Ms. Razskazoff illuminated the very particular pain of anguished waiting.

Her performance of the Liszt songs was equally fine. Daniel Fung's delicacy on the piano was perfect for "Freudvoll und leidvoll" and the delicacy, so different from the forceful piano we expect from Liszt, extended through "Lasst mich ruhen" and "Du bist wie eine Blume".  But oh, that bad girl Lorelei!

Also on the program was Benjamin Britten's On This Island, Op. 11, which we just recently heard. We grant that Britten rose to new heights in his setting of Auden's text but this will never be among our favorite song cycles. That being said, Ms. Razskazoff lent an appealing resonance to the work and sang with exquisite dynamic control. We related best to the final two songs--the solemn "Nocturne", sung with great expressivity and plenty of room in the lower register with rumbly low chords in the piano--and the ironic "As it is, Plenty" with its jazzy piano writing. The only problem was that several words of the text were lost and needed to be enunciated better.  This was not a problem with the German, Russian and Italian.  English is just so difficult to sing!

Olivier Messiaen's  Poèmes Pour Mi, Book II has never interested us but Ms. Razskazoff gave the four selections an impassioned delivery. It is a tribute to her artistry that we didn't run out of the theater screaming. We do not like his music or his text. Just give us more Rossini!

(c) meche kroop